Unexpected
by Soul Raider 116
Summary: He'd just wanted to give Ren and Kyoko some time alone together...that's all! So how had he ended up alone with Kotonami Kanae, and starting to fall for her at that? And if Ren and Kyoko find out, will they be the one's playing matchmaker for their unsuspecting friends? (Yashiro/Kanae, Ren/Kyoko)
1. Lunch Date

**A/N:** Okay, I know the usual focus of these stories is Ren and Kyoko, which is a pairing I love! However...I saw Yashiro and Kanae as a side couple in a fic I was reading, and kinda fell in love with the concept. And when I went looking for fics about them specifically, I was shocked to find how few there were! So, I'm going to try my hand at writing one. Please understand that I'm not completely up to date with the series, or even the American release. -sighs- I'm so far behind that I've been reading the Omnibuses as they come out in America because it's less expensive and less tempting to throw all my money away at once trying to catch up that way, heheh. So, the furthest I have gotten is Volume 24. I can't remember exactly what chapter it ends on, but it's the Valentines day one. The last scene is Fuwa walking into the Dark Moon shoot with a huge bouquet of flowers. I'll check and see what the specific chapter is as soon as I can and post that here so you know where I'm coming from. Anyway, I apologize for any inaccuracies in character or story that may result. -dives into a dogeza- Gomen!

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase your confused...I don't. Lol.

**Lunch Date**

Yashiro watched in mild amusement as Mogami Kyoko dropped into a dogeza bow on the floor before his charge, Tsuruga Ren. The latter was trying to assure her, as usual, that she had nothing to apologize for, but she just kept babbling about how sorry she was, and what an unworthy kouhai she was.

"Tsuruga-san, I am so terrible, running into you like that! I could have knocked you down and seriously injured you! It's unforgivable!" She was practically in tears as she begged his forgiveness.

Ren waved his hand at her, dismissing her concerns with a small smile, "Mogami-san, honestly, I doubt you could knock me down even if you tried...and it's not as though you could see me when you came around the corner, so really, it's not your fault."

The LoveMe member was having none of it as she continued to bow before him, "No, I should have been watching where I was going, instead of racing blindly around the corner! I am such a horrid person!"

The smile gradually faded from the seasoned actor's face. He was actually a bit irritated that she was speaking so lowly of herself, and that she had ignored his statement that she couldn't have knocked him over. Really, did she have to take everything to heart and make it her fault, "Mogami-san, really, stop apologizing. I'm sure you had a valid reason to be in such a hurry."

She was shaking her head, eyes closed as she continued to babble nonsense about how wretched she was. Ren simply bent down, and held out a hand to her, "If you keep apologizing, then I might actually be angry with you. But right now, I'm not."

The gentle yet stern tone of his voice earned a blink as she looked up at her sempai, then glanced at his hand, which he had held out to help her stand from the dogeza. She was being selfish by asking forgiveness, she realized! How horrible of her! Again she looked down, and began to apologize, by was interrupted by the cough that came from her mentor that told her she was doing just what she had been asked not to.

Hesitantly, Kyoko took his hand and let him guide her to her feet. Ren smiled at her, holding onto her hand a bit longer than he should have, which did not escape Yashiro's notice as the manager suppressed an excited squeal before turning around to sneak off and give the pair some privacy.

Tsuruga's smile was genuine, and so blinding that Kyoko's grudges seemed to wither before it. Suddenly realizing that her hand was still encased in his, she pulled it from his grasp quickly, "Umm….arigato, Tsuruga-san."

That smile faltered slightly at the speed at which her hand withdrew, but only momentarily before he was smiling fully once again, "Of course. There's no need to thank me, Mogami-san. Anyway, I suppose we should be going, shouldn't we Ya...shi...ro?"

As he looked around, he noticed his distinct lack of manager, a brow twitching in annoyance. That sneaky little...they'd been on their way to lunch together, but now he was left alone with Mogami-san!

* * *

Yashiro hummed happily to himself as he strode down the hall, perfectly satisfied that he had given Ren the slip! True, he and his client had been on their way to lunch together, but now, Ren and Kyoko could dine together instead! And hopefully, that would lead to a confession, and romance, and...and…

Dancing in a tight, gleeful circle, the manager finally let out the excited squeal he had been holding in. His fangirl mode was really starting to kick in, as he closed his eyes and began to skip merrily along, images of lovey-dovey Kyoko and Ren dancing through his mind. Not even realizing where he was as he frolicked down the hall, he collided with a door that had suddenly swung open in front of him, and collapsed back onto his rump, head spinning, glasses askew as he looked up to see the source of his sudden impact.

"Mo! You should watch where you're going! What kind of idiot walks into a door!" There, standing in front of the man stood Kotonami Kanae. Her appearance was slightly blurred by his off kilter glasses, but it was definitely her. The long, raven hair, confident stance, and the signature use of the phrase mo told him that. He gaped in silence, feeling like an utter idiot for having gone so far into fangirl mode that he'd run into the LoveMe section's door as it had opened.

"Glasses-kun?" Kanae lofted a brow as she realized who it was she had been lecturing. Immediately the actress began glancing around for his almost constant companion and client, "Where's Tsuruga-san? And how the hell did you manage to walk into the door?"

Her gaze shifted back to the manager, who was still looking at her through skewed glasses. She blinked, huffing and turning her head, "Mo! What are you looking at?"

Yashiro shook his head, blushing slightly. Why had he been staring, anyway? "N-nothing. And...I guess I was just spaced out. I apologize, Kotonami-san."

A bow would have been offered had he been standing, as it was he simply dipped his head in her direction. The proud LoveMe member just huffed again, shrugging her shoulders as she reached out a hand to help him to his feet, "Whatever. Don't keep sitting there, baka."

The bespectacled man glanced at the hand a moment, a moment too long for Kanae's patience to hold out, "Mo! Are you getting up or not!"

With a nod, Yashiro quickly gripped the offered hand. Even though she was much smaller than him, and seemed delicate, Kanae helped to pull him to his feet, only stumbling slightly in the process, "Um...arigato, Kotonami-san."

As he straightened his glasses, the beautiful actress, for she was beautiful, that he had to admit, turned away again, her raven locks fluttering against her shoulders, "Well...don't be so clumsy next time! What are you doing here alone, Glasses-kun? Kyoko-chan isn't here, so-"

"I know." He replied, mildly irritated, and yet amused at the same time, by the nickname she had given him, "I actually just left her. She's with Ren!"

Turning to face the manager once more, Kanae narrowed her eyes. She could see the fantasizing, dreamy look in his eyes. Good grief, he was fangirling! Kyoko had been supposed to meet her for lunch! Now she was with Tsuruga, and this idiot was dreaming of them getting all lovey dovey! Well, Kanae wasn't going to lose her best friend that easily! She started off down the hall in the direction Yashiro had obviously been coming from.

It took a few moments for the daydreaming man to realize that the girl had passed by him and was making her way toward where he had left his charge and Kyoko. In a panicked state he hurried after her. He couldn't let their moment be interrupted! "Kotonami-san!"

She ignored him and kept walking, knowing that he was just going to ask her not to interfere, but she was going to lunch with Kyoko, dammit! Desperately, the manager lurched forward, taking hold of Kanae's hand, "Wait! Uh, g-go to lunch with me?"

Kotonami blinked, and turned to face him. This man was much older than her, and he had just made a point of asking her to go to lunch with him. True, it was just to keep her from interfering with a possibly romantic moment between Tsuruga and Kyoko, but that blush on his face seemed to say otherwise, "What?"

"Umm...I…" What was he doing? The four years between Ren and Kyoko were one thing, but Kanae and himself had a bigger gap between them. Not to mention, he didn't even know her that well. Yet it seemed like he had just asked her out or something? His face burned hotly, and he suddenly felt like he couldn't breath, "Kotonami-san...will...will..you go to lunch with me?"

He flinched, waiting for the younger girl to slap him or scream at him for being an idiot. He highly doubted the tactic of asking her to lunch would work, but it was worth a try. Kanae looked him over as if sizing him up. He really was desperate for Ren and Kyoko to get together, wasn't he? Just then a tune started playing on her phone, and the LoveMe girl took it from the pocket of her pink jumpsuit. Looking at the number she sighed. It was Kyoko.

The leggy beauty flipped her phone open and put it to her ear, barely having time to take a breath in preparation for greeting, and definitely not able to utter a syllable before her best friend cried out at her, "Moko-saaaan! Gomen! I am sooo sorry! I know I said we'd go to lunch together, and I'll be there really soon, I just ran into Tsuruga-san...I guess I lost track of time and-"

"Mo! Don't worry about it! Stop apologizing!" Moko, as her best friend had termed her, put a hand to her face, sighing again, "Actually, something's come up, so I have to cancel lunch...but maybe you can go with Tsuruga-san or something. I don't know."

"What?" Kyoko sounded worried on the other side of the line, "Moko-san! Is everything alright? Did something happen? Oh my god! Moko-san, I'm coming! I'll be right there, don't worry!"

"Shut up! Nothing's wrong, I just...forgot I had other plans."" Silence from the other end of the line, "Kyoko-chan?"

"Oh...I see. Well, have fun then." Kyoko sounded almost hurt, and no wonder, she had just been effectively ditched by her best friend. The phone was hung up on her end, and Moko fought back a guilty feeling, before turning to glare at Yashiro.

She was about to scream at him for making her upset Kyoko, but stopped short when she saw the man looking at her in surprise. The shocked look on his face slowly morphed into a giddy smile as he thought of what this meant for Ren and Kyoko...then a look of shock again. At first he had been shocked that Kanae went along with his plan, but now, he was shocked that the whole situation had even happened. He had asked her to lunch in desperation to give Ren and Kyoko some alone time...but now, he would have alone time with Kotonami! His face began to tinge red at the notion.

Watching the range of emotion he went through, Kanae couldn't bring herself to tell him off. He was clearly trying to do what he thought was best for the pair in question. And he seemed a bit embarrassed by his earlier actions. The talento wasn't sure whether to find that annoying, or cute. Was it so bad to be seen with her, that he had to be that embarassed, "Mo, this had better be worth it."

Hearing her near unintelligible mutter, Yashiro seemed to come out of his shocked state, and offered her a small, slightly nervous smile. This was just a friendly luncheon. He was not a creepy pervert. And he hoped she didn't think him one. Clearing his throat, he decided to question, "W-would you prefer to go out, or eat at the cafeteria?"

She cast him a sideways glance, "Kyoko-chan probably won't let Tsuruga-san take her out...they'll be in the cafeteria. So, I guess we should go out, then. But, don't you dare try anything funny! Mo!"

Yashiro let out a sigh. So she did think he was a creepy pervert. That wasn't what he wanted at all. It wasn't that he was super worried about his reputation, he was just a manager, after all. But, for some reason it bothered him for this girl to think such things about him, "I wouldn't do that, Kotonami-san."

She could see the look of dejection on his face, hear the fact that he sounded upset by her remark. Her gaze softened some as she folded her arms over her chest, turning to step back into the locker room, "Alright then. Give me a couple minutes. I'm not going to the cafe dressed like this! Oh, and you're paying!"

He blinked and looked up as she disappeared into the LoveMe section's room. She'd sounded a bit more pleasant just then, as hard as she'd been trying not to. With a small smile, he leaned against the wall beside the door (on the side where he wouldn't get hit by said door when it swung open) and waited for Kanae to change from her pink jumpsuit into her street clothes.

* * *

Kyoko sulked as she hung up her phone, Ren blinking at her from behind, "Is everything alright, Mogami-san?"

"Moko-san canceled on me!" She practically sobbed in reply, "She said she had other plans!"

"Then, since your friend has other plans, and my manager has vanished...perhaps we could have lunch together?" Ren suggested. He knew this was what Yashiro had hoped would happen when the bespectacled man had abandoned them. Really, couldn't Yashiro just stop meddling in his love life?

"I couldn't do that!" Kyoko replied with a gasp as she looked at her sempai, "It would inconvenience you!"

Ren smiled at her, "No, it wouldn't. I was planning to go to lunch anyhow. Of course, if I go by myself, I'll eat hardly anything, as usual-"

"No you won't!" Kyoko cut him off, his ploy having worked, "Because I would never allow that! I'll eat with you, and make sure you eat everything on your plate!"

Her sempai covered his mouth and coughed slightly to disguise a laugh.


	2. Yashiro and Kanae! Suspicious!

**A/N:** Right, so, here's chapter two! I still haven't gotten past volume 24, lol. So once again I apologize for any inaccuracies in plot or character. I'm trying not to tie it in too closely to canon storyline, so hopefully I can avoid being too obvious with my inaccuracies. Bah. Just know it takes place sometime after Valentines Day, okay? Also, just a reminder that the main pairing in this story is Yashiro/Kanae. There will also be a lot of Ren/Kyoko though, so you won't be disappointed! Please read and review to let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading this far!

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Yashiro and Kanae?! Suspicious!**

* * *

It wasn't a very long wait before the door to the LoveMe section's locker room swung open again and Kanae stepped out. Yashiro turned to look at her, and couldn't help letting his gaze linger. She was pretty enough in her pink jumpsuit, but in street clothes...well...it was no wonder she was in the talent industry! She wore black leggings, and her knee high white boots, that had just enough of a heel on them to give her a slight boost in height. Her top was a white cowl neck sweater, with bits of silver woven into it. On her head she wore a newsboy style hat of the same white and silver color scheme. It was truly gorgeous! And with her jet black hair and pale skin, it was just made all the more lovely.

The young actress could feel him watching her, and shot him an agitated look as she pulled her white peacoat over top of the ensemble, "Mo! What are you staring at, Glasses-kun?"

With that, the manager turned quickly to hide the slight blush on his features. He was so embarrassed to have been caught staring. Especially at someone so much younger than him, and so far out of his league to boot, "N-nothing. I just…"

A ebon brow arched in curiosity as the female waited for him to finish his thought, but he trailed off. He was acting very strangely in her opinion, "You just what?"

Yashiro hadn't been sure what he was going to say. He wanted to compliment her, but how could he do so without sounding like a pervert? Even without looking at Kanae he could sense her irritation, she was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for a reply, but he dared not give one.

"Well?" She snapped at him, hands on her hips as her eyes narrowed into a glare, "I asked you a question!"

"Ah...I...I just...umm…" He was feeling more nervous by the second. This girl was so confident, and it seemed to intimidate him for some reason, "I wanted to tell...you...how nice you look…"

Again, the manager flinched, glancing at her from his peripheral as he prepared for a slap or verbal barrage. But he received neither. Instead, the young actress seemed to be staring at him, a bit dumbstruck. Why was that? Surely she'd been given compliments before. A beauty like that? It was impossible that she hadn't been told by someone! Then, to his mortification, she burst out laughing.

"Th-that's what you were having trouble saying?" Kanae brought a hand to her mouth trying to quickly stifle the laughter and regain her usual cool and controlled front. She wasn't one for displays of emotion. And she couldn't let her guard down in front of anyone. Even Kyoko rarely saw her warm side, and that was her best friend. Finally she coughed and calmed down, straightening herself, and flipping her raven locks over her shoulder as she fixed the manager with a cool, even stare, "You're serious? What, you've never given a girl a compliment before, Glasses-kun?"

If he hadn't been blushing before, Yashiro was definitely doing so now. His face was nearly crimson with embarrassment as he pushed off from his place against the wall and started walking for the exit, "Kotonami-san, we should get to that cafe you were wanting to eat at…"

His tone sounded hurt, she realized as he skulked she suddenly felt a bit bad. Being around someone like Tsuruga Ren all the time probably didn't get him noticed much by women, so maybe he wasn't very popular with them? She'd never really given it much thought. But she was sure that she'd hurt his feelings, "Hey, Glasses-kun!"

He stopped so that she could catch up, which didn't take more than a few strides, but he didn't look back at the teenage talento, "Yes, Kotonami-san?"

She walked after him, coming to a stop just behind where the manager stood. Somehow, she didn't like the way he had gone from being friendly and somewhat nervous, to almost cold towards her. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she looked off down a side corridor, "Look...it's...uhh…"

Yashiro blinked, turning to face her, "Kotonami-san?"

"Mo! Thanks for the compliment, okay? It was very nice of you to say!" Her face tinted pink in embarrassment as she refused to meet his gaze. Why was it so hard to just look at him and say thank you?

Pushing up his glasses, Yashiro smiled, and turned toward the exit once more, "You're most welcome, Kotonami-san."

Now his tone seemed pleasant again, it seemed she had been forgiven. And that relieved her, for some reason. Kanae smiled as well for a moment before putting her normal cool expression back on her face and following after the manager as they walked down the hall, and made their way to the building's exit. The path to which just happened to pass by where the hallway to the cafeteria emerged into the hallway that led to the LoveMe section was located.

* * *

"Tsuruga-san, you are not paying for my meal!" Kyoko argued with her sempai, turning and heading back towards the exit of the cafeteria, "I just left my purse in the LoveMe section locker room! I can get it and be...right...back…"

The talento had frozen halfway down the hall as she had been trying to outpace the longer legged Ren in an effort to avoid letting him pay the cafeteria bill for her food. She blinked once, then twice, forgetting all about the man approaching from behind, "Mogami-san? Is everything a-"

Kyoko held up a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, and pointed down the hall. Her sempai followed her gaze, and blinked as well. There, passing by the turn that would have led them to the cafeteria, were two very familiar people. Yashiro Yukihito and Kotonami Kanae were walking towards the building's exit together. And from the way Yashiro was smiling towards the young actress, it seemed as though they were going the same place!

"Y-yashiro-san...and Moko-san?" Kyoko murmured in surprise as soon as the pair had left the building. It was a shock! Her best friend had called off their plans so she could spend time with Tsuruga-san's manager of all people? But why? It didn't make any sense...unless…

Golden eyes drifted to look at her Sempai, who was calculating something in his mind. The older actor wore a bemused smile as he figured out a bit of what must have happened. Yashiro had left him alone with Mogami-san so that she and he would become closer, as the manager always wished they would. Somewhere along the line, he had met Kotonami-san, who he discovered had lunch plans with Mogami-san. Then, one way or another, the clever manager had managed to talk Kotonami-san into giving up her lunch with Mogami-san. That had to be it. But why was he still with the young, raven haired talento? That was the mystery. They had left the building together.

A mischievous look came into the star's eye as he glanced to the blooming actress he secretly loved. He could see her looking at him curiously, and he smirked at her, "I wonder what their up to...shall we go and see?"

"Ts-Tsuruga-san! That would be spying!" Kyoko huffed at him. As curious as she was she knew that spying wasn't right. She folder her arms over her chest and shook her head, "I will not be a part of it!"

Ren canted his head to one side, "Well...don't you want to make sure Kotonami-san's okay? Not that I don't trust Yashiro to take care of her...but she is your best friend…"

Kyoko frowned some, "Yashiro-san wouldn't hurt her…"

She hoped he wouldn't anyway. Of course, Kyoko's trust wasn't the greatest when it came to men. Especially in relationships. She looked down, contemplating, "Tsuruga-san...I know he's your manager and your friend...but...maybe it's better just to be safe…"

Ren smiled at her, nodding, "And I know Kotonami-san is your best friend, Mogami-san. But I would still like to see just what's going on. It might be nothing...or, who knows."

He offered a shrug as he moved through the building. He knew Yashiro and Kanae couldn't be too far ahead, since they were walking. It wouldn't be too hard to keep an eye on them, especially if he had an idea of where they were going, "Where does Kotonami-san like to go for lunch?"

"Oh!" Kyoko smiled at her sempai, "Someplace healthy! There's a cafe not too far from here where she usually orders a salad. I bet that's where they're heading!"

"Alright, then." The seasoned actor pulled on a ballcap and donned a pair of sunglasses to hide his identity, pulling on his coat as he guided Kyoko back to the locker room. If her hunch proved right, then they had some time. And they would be less noticeable if the Love Me girl were in her street clothes.


	3. I spya Date!

**A/N:** I'm pounding out the first few chapters, it seems. And this one is a doozy at over 4,000 words, lol! Also, I still haven't read past volume 24. So this probably isn't the most accurate portrayal of the story or characters. Gomen! Again, it probably takes place sometime shortly after Valentine's Day, since the last chapter I read left off in the middle of that story. And once more I remind you it's mostly a YashiroxKanae story, with RenxKyoko as a supporting couple, lol. Alas, when I began typing this chapter, I still had no reviews. So sad. But at least I have a couple of followers! Yay! Just read and review! Constructive critique, please, so I know how to improve.

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

* * *

**Chapter 3: I Spy….A Date!**

* * *

Kyoko and Ren made their way toward what the former claimed to be Kanae's favorite cafe. Ren had on his ball cap and sunglasses, the rest of his ensemble hidden by a long black coat that came to his knees. Below that, his pants were revealed to be a nice pair of black slacks, and his shoes were also a shiny black. He didn't often walk, but Kyoko had said the restaurant was close, and Yashiro would likely recognize the actor's car.

The Love Me Section's number one member had done her best to look inconspicuous for this mission. She wore a ball cap, much like the one that Ren had on, paired with a tan over coat that fell to her hips, hiding her shirt. With that, she had a short denim skirt, and a pair or suede boots that matched her coat. Sunglasses finished off the look. The most identifying aspect of the girl, was her unusual orange hair. As they approached the cafe, she nearly forgot they were spying upon seeing her friend and Yashiro sitting together inside, "Tsuruga-san! There they are!"

Ren clamped a hand over her mouth, and pulled her into some bushes from behind which they could see through the window to the table where the manager and the talento were seated. Really, did Kyoko have to be so loud? And why had she started heading right for the door anyway? Hadn't he made it perfectly clear this was a covert operation? "Mogami-san, please, hush. We don't want them to know we're watching, remember?"

He flashed her a gentlemanly smile that let the rising star know he was irritated with her. Realising her mistake, a nod was given, and Ren dropped his hand from over her mouth, at which point she instantly bowed and began to apologize. Ren twitched and smiled a little brighter, his agitation level rising, "Please stop, Mogami-san. You're drawing attention."

Immediately murmuring one last apology, Kyoko sat up and was quite as she focused on the window and what was happening beyond their range of hearing. All the two in the bushes could register were the movements of their friends. Not the conversation that went along with them.

* * *

Yashiro and Kanae had walked in relative quiet for most of the way to the restaurant. It suited the female wonderfully, she didn't feel much like talking anyway. But it made Yashiro a bit uncomfortable. If he was spending time with the Love Me member, at least she could talk to him! But then, he wasn't exactly the most interesting man on the planet. Most women only wanted to talk to him to find out more about Ren. His shoulders slumped at his thoughts. There really wasn't anything that interesting at all about a man like him. What would they talk about? How to maintain a schedule? That wouldn't exactly be a fascinating conversation for the teenage actress!

Casting a sideways glance at the manager, the aspiring star could tell he was getting a bit depressed. Why the heck was that? He was on his way to lunch with a beautiful girl, so why should he look so glum? Maybe he didn't really want to eat with her at all? It must have been a ploy to get her away from Kyoko, and nothing more than that. That aggravated her, even though she had suspected as much from the start, "Mo! What are you all depressed for? If you don't want to eat with me, just say so!"

"Wh-what?" He looked up at the talento as she glared his way with a hand on her hip, having stopped walking to look at him harshly. Where had she gotten the idea that he didn't want to eat with her? He hadn't said that had he? He blinked before responding, "I asked to eat with you, didn't I?"

"Well yeah…" She turned to look away from him, not sure of what to say, "But that was just to keep me from interrupting your little scheme to get Kyoko-chan and Tsuruga-san together!"

He let his mouth open, then snapped it shut once more. How was the manager supposed to respond, when that was pretty much exactly why he had initially asked her to join him? She'd caught him, it seemed, "That was the primary reason, yes…but...I would still like to get to know you better."

It was the raven haired girl's turn to blink and look at him in surprise, "So even if I tell you you don't have to eat with me, you still want to? I won't go running off to Kyoko-chan, you know."

"I know." He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to see this lunch date through. Wait, had he just called it a date? He blushed at the realization and turned away to hide the shifting colors on his features, "I still want to treat you to lunch though."

Kanae eyed the man with mild suspicion, "So why are you so mopey?"

Oh, she had asked him already why he seemed depressed, hadn't she? It was a good question. What was he supposed to say? He sighed softly, "I...well...it's going to sound stupid…"

The young performer raised a well groomed brow at him, indicating that she was still curious, "Whatever, Glasses-kun. But if you want to tell me...I guess I can listen."

Yashiro stared at her back as she began walking toward the cafe again, his eyes wide at the fact that she seemed genuinely concerned for him. He still wasn't sure about that nickname, but she seemed to at least care enough to worry over him a bit! Catching up to the talento in a few long strides, the manager smiled down at her, "Thank you. I feel better just knowing that, Kotonami-san."

It was Kanae's turn to blush slightly as she looked to the side, "Mo! Don't read too much into it, okay! You're Kyoko-chan's friend..so, for her sake I figure I should make sure you're okay!"

Well, at least it was something. Even if she only cared about him for Kyoko's sake, she cared about him. And that was what mattered. Reaching the cafe, the manager opened the door, and the pair entered the establishment, once more out of the frigid air and into the warmth of a building. They walked to a table, and Yashiro, gentleman that he was, pulled out a seat for Kanae before taking his own place across from her.

It wasn't long before the waiter approached their table, he was a handsome young man with darker hair and eyes like dark chocolate. That deep gaze shifted from Kanae, to Yashiro, then back to the girl, where it would linger as he spoke, "Hello there. Can I get you and your...boyfriend...something to drink?"

Kanae felt the color first drain from her cheeks, then surge back into them as a deep blush hit her, she began fumbling for a reply, "Him? O-oh...he...he's not...we just…"

Yashiro blushed as well, though a touch more subtly. He glanced at the young talento as she tried to explain but seemed to have a hard time doing so. Strange. Was it so hard to dismiss the notion that they were dating? She wasn't interested in him, so why would she have trouble saying so? His eyes drifted to the waiter, who was still staring at Kanae in slight confusion mixed with a tinge of hope. Obviously the server liked her. And he was closer to her age, if appearances were anything to go by. With a soft sigh, the manager cut into her stammering, "We aren't dating...we simply work together."

Now the young actress turned to stare in shock at the man who so easily brushed off the mention of being her boyfriend. Did he dislike the idea so much that he had to make it plainly clear that this wasn't a date? Why did she even care, anyway? It wasn't like she actually liked him! Wait...had his voice when he said that...been disappointed? Was he upset at her for something?

As she stared with mouth slightly open at the manager, she didn't notice the relief that swept over the waiter's features, only to be replaced with confusion a moment later. If they weren't dating, then why was she staring at the older man like that? Weren't they simply co-workers? He'd seen Kanae in the restaurant before, with her friend...the actress from Dark Moon, what was the other girl's name again? It didn't matter, because it was Kanae he was drawn to. But here she was with another, older, man. A man who apparently also worked at LME, the place of employment having often coming up in conversations between the two actresses when they would frequent the establishment. The younger man had never had the courage to ask Kanae out, despite his instant attraction to her. But if she was going to start showing up with men, and not her friend from Dark Moon, then he might have to take the chance.

Yashiro looked up from his menu to order his drink, noticing that the waiter was still staring at Kanae. That drew the manager's attention to his co-worker, and he blushed as he saw the way she was staring at him. Turning to the server once more, he quickly cleared his throat to gain the younger man's attention, "I think I'll have a cup of hot tea."

The waiter was torn from his thoughts, and nodded at the bespectacled man, scribbling the order on the notepad he was carrying with him, "Um...and for you miss?"

Kanae blushed again as she realized she had been staring, and lifted her menu to shield her face from view, "Oh...uhh...I'll have an iced tea. No sugar. And a slice of lemon on the side."

The waiter nodded and turned away from them, giving one last glance over his shoulder before hurrying off to get the drinks.

"Well, he certainly seemed enamoured…" Yashiro observed quietly, glancing up at his companion to see how she would react to being told such a thing.

She shrugged and looked at him over her menu, "He's not my type, Glasses-kun. So, I guess it doesn't matter if he likes me or not, because I just don't feel any attraction to him."

"I see…" Yashiro tried to maintain an even tone in his voice, though his heart was lifted some for an unknown reason at her words. She had no interest in the waiter, and that, for some reason, was a relief. Without realizing that he was speaking out loud, he let a question slip, "So...what exactly is your type?"

Kanae blinked up at him, unsure of where this conversation was going. Her eyes drifted over him, regarding him cautiously as she wondered what he was up to, "Well...I'm not entirely sure…"

This earned a surprised look as the manager realised two things. First, that he had spoken the inquiry out loud, which cause him to blush. Second it occurred to him that though she had heard his question, she hadn't responded as he might have expected. The man would have thought she would have said something along the lines of _Mo! That's none of your business!_

Instead, the teenager had given a calm response. The fact that she wasn't sure of her type was rather surprising in itself. She seemed like the sort that would have a very defined notion of what she wanted in a man, "You aren't sure?"

"Mo! That's what I said!" Now he had pushed a bit too hard, earning a snapped reply. Her brow twitched as she looked at him, watching him shift in his seat as the waiter returned with their drinks. He set a small pot of hot tea and a tea cup on the table in front of Yashiro first. Then turned and set the iced tea in front of Kanae, along with a small bowl of lemon slices. It seemed the server hadn't heard the remark about not being her type, because he concluded with a small wink before asking, "Do you know what you want to eat?"

Kanae ordered her usual, a chicken salad with a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Healthy, yet filling. Yashiro placed an order for a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with mayo and cheese. Not as healthy, particularly with the mayo on it. But, it wasn't too bad. The waiter wrote down their orders and hurried off, a bit disappointed that his wink had gotten no response from the beautiful actress.

Yashiro was perfectly willing to let the talk of dating and types drop. He didn't want to push his luck any further and get Kanae really upset with him. However, he wasn't entirely sure what to talk about to fill the silence. He stared out the window, chin rested in his palm as he tried to think of a conversation topic. Wait..had he seen a flash of orange hair? No...must have been his imagination. There was a rustle in the bushes, but that could be anything. And Kyoko was at the cafeteria with Ren!

"-kun?" Kanae finished her question, sighing agitatedly when the man she was addressing looked at her as though he hadn't heard a word. It had been awkward enough to ask the first time, to bring his own inquiry back around on him, "Mo! Pay attention! I asked what your type was, Glasses-kun!"

He blinked and stared at her dumbfounded. What? True, he had asked her, but he hadn't meant to wonder it aloud! And now, she was deliberately asking the question back at him? Why did she want to know? The longer he looked at her in surprised silence, the more she started to blush, "I-it's not that I really want to know or anything...you asked first! And...since I answered, now you've got to tell me too!"

Yashiro smiled, failing in his attempt to hold back a laugh which earned him a glare. Obviously Kanae thought he was making fun of her, but he wasn't. He just thought she was cute when she made excuses like that, "G-gomen, Kotonami-san. Though, you know you didn't really give much of an answer."

She looked away and folded her arms with a huff, "If you don't want to answer, then say so! It doesn't matter to me!"

"I'll answer." The manager smiled at her warmly, "On one condition. While I'm talking, I want you to think on your own criteria, then you can give a more definite answer in return, alright? It only seems fair."

Again the Love Me member turned her gaze on the manager, lofting a brow. He seemed like he was up to something, but the way he smiled at her said he was being sincere. It also set her heart aflutter, "Mo! Fine, deal!"

"Alright," Yashiro nodded, pushing his glasses up as he stopped to think, "Well...let's see. I suppose my ideal woman would be kind, caring and loyal. She would be strong, and bold, not afraid to speak her mind. I need someone who can keep me…."

Here he trailed off. This part was a bit embarrassing. He tried to portray himself as very professional, and part of being professional was being confident. While he was confident in his job, he wasn't confident in other areas of life. And that's what he wanted. A woman who would keep him confident, lift him from self doubt. But for some reason, he wasn't sure he wanted Kanae to know about this particular shortcoming.

"Keep you…" Kanae prompted him to continue. He didn't. She frowned at him, and finally raised her voice, "Mo! Keep you what? If you don't tell me, the deal is off!"

The people in the restaurant glanced their way. Yashiro shifted uneasily as he lifted his hands to try and calm the girl, "Alright, I'll tell you, please, shh. People are staring! Anyway..what I was saying is...I want someone who can help keep me...confident."

Kanae immediately fell silent at his mention that everyone was staring. She didn't mind the attention, after all, she wanted to be a star, so people staring couldn't really bother her. Of course, the reason they were staring wasn't that great. She'd been having a bit of a tantrum, it seemed, without meaning to. When he continued on with his list, she canted her head. He certainly seemed confident. He was good at his job, and he seemed to know it, "Confident, huh?"

The manager looked down at the table, nodding in shame. She was going to laugh at him, probably. It wouldn't surprise him. Why shouldn't she? He was admitting that he lacked a vital asset to life!

"I guess we all could use that, sometimes." She said with a shrug, shocking the man into looking at her. She blinked at the way he looked at her, "What? You thought I was going to start yelling or something? Mo! I'm not that cruel! Everyone has moments of self doubt!"

A small laugh escaped Yashiro's lips as he looked at the Love Me member, "I suppose you're right. Anyhow, did you give anymore thought to what your type is?"

He was leaning on the table, hands folded beneath his chin as he looked at her eagerly. That made her shift nervously. Kanae took her turn to look down at the iced tea the rested on the table between her hands, "Well...I suppose someone mature, not someone who acts childish all the time. But of course, he should know how to have fun when the time is right. Someone reliable, who is there when I need him. He should be willing to listen, and not afraid to offer advice when needed. Loyalty is important, like you said. I don't think I could fall for someone overly flirtatious, or who is too full of himself. Confidence is good in the right measure, but cockiness is just annoying. And he should be willing to help people he cares about! Be it me, or a friend or family member."

That was not what Yashiro had thought she would describe as her ideal man. She figured he would need to be suave, and full of confidence. Someone who could come in and sweep her off her feet. And...she said mature. Did that mean she liked older men? Wait, why did he care? Sure, she was pretty, but…

Kanae lifted her gaze from her glass to find the manager across from her staring at her, seemingly lost in thought. She blushed slightly as she looked at him, trying to meet his gaze, but he seemed like he wasn't focused on her at the moment, despite where his eyes were pointed. He was contemplating something, probably what she had just said. Had something in her words struck him as odd?

"What about looks?" He suddenly broke the silence, realizing that her eyes were trained on his, and looked away as he cleared his throat, "What is your type...you know...physically?"

What? Why did he want to know that? Kanae was thoroughly confused. Was he going to try and set her up with someone? He did seem to like playing matchmaker, if his actions with Ren and Kyoko were anything to go on. She hesitated, but was compelled to reply with a shrug, "I don't really have one. I mean, it would be nice to find a handsome guy, I guess. But looks aren't that important…why?"

"Ah, no reason! I was just wondering is all." He chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head, "I mean, I never see you with any of the men at LME, so I...um…"

Where had he been going with that sentence, anyway? He hung his head as he left the words hanging in the air. Kanae narrowed her eyes at him, "Mo! I don't need you setting me up like you're trying to do with Kyoko-chan and Tsuruga-kun! If I wanted to date, I could find a guy myself, you know! But...none of the actors or other celebrities I've met seem to fit my type, so...mo! I don't know, I guess famous people are just too full of themselves!"

Yashiro was taken aback at her outburst. He hadn't been trying to set her up with anyone. He'd just been curious, really. And maybe he'd been wondering if her physical type might lean towards him, but, she didn't seem to catch on the fact that that might be why he'd been asking. Which was probably a good thing. Someone as pretty as her, and so much younger than him, would never agree to date him anyhow, "I...I wasn't trying to play matchmaker for you...honest!"

When she continued to eye him skeptically, he sighed, and reached over to rest a hand on her arm. It was an subconscious movement. But even as he realized what he'd done, he didn't withdraw his hand, hoping it would somehow allow her to sense his honesty, "Kotonami-san, I swear, I wouldn't do something like that, not without your consent."

Sure, he didn't exactly have Ren's consent to continue trying to push him and Kyoko together, but that was different. He knew Ren quite well, and knew he really loved the rising star. He didn't know Kanae that well, even if he did now know her better than he had when they'd run into each other before lunch. And he had no clue if she was interested in anyone. So, he wouldn't mess with her love life unless she wanted him to.

Kanae glanced at his hand on her arm, but didn't move to pull away. Instead she met his eye, and saw the honesty there. With a sigh, she nodded, "Alright. Well, just don't go getting any ideas about playing matchmaker. Because I won't consent anyway!"

Their food arrived then, and Yashiro withdrew his hand from her arm as they both began to eat in a lingering silence.

* * *

Though she had been reluctant to take part in the spy mission, Kyoko was really getting into it as she peeked from the bushes to look through the window at the couple inside. She observed carefully, reporting to the man who was sitting behind her, though he could easily see them through a small gap in the branches, "There doesn't seem to be much happening...they're just sitting there!"

"Well, at least their talking about something." The seasoned actor replied, wishing he could read lips. With his luck, they were joining together in a plot to make him propose to Kyoko or something. That didn't sound like something Kanae would do, but with Yashiro involved one never knew.

He saw the the waiter approach the pair to take their order. Even at this distance, it was easy to tell that the young cafe employee had a crush on Kanae. Well, to Ren at least. Kyoko didn't seem to notice much. She wasn't paying any attention to the server, instead she was focused on her friends, "Hey, Moko-san is really staring at Yashiro-san a lot...he must have something on his face. But they haven't even eaten yet…"

Her sempai wasn't sure whether to be amused or upset at her absolute obliviousness to the situation. Did she really not see that there was something interesting going on? Evidently, Yashiro had said something to the waiter that left Kanae staring at him in shock. Which meant that the manager had probably come across as jealous or something. A fox-like grin spread over Ren's feature's at the thought. If Yashiro liked Kanae, then he could hold it over his manager's head and blackmail the man into ceasing in meddling in other's love lives.

Kyoko was leaning forward out of the bush to get a better look as the waiter returned to deliver the drinks. The cafe worker had just winked at Kanae! Even as dense as she was, the orange haired girl recognized that as a sign of romantic intentions! Or devious intentions, as she thought more likely. Grudges started swirling about her, ready to fly to her best friend's aid, "That waiter is trying to seduce Moko-san!"

The seasoned actor sitting near her saw her about to charge into the restaurant and save the girl she considered her friend. At the same time, he caught site of Yashiro looking their way. Quickly Ren grabbed the Love Me member by the collar of her coat and pulled her back into the bushes, causing her to stumble and land flat in his lap. The male blushed slightly and turned his face away to hide the slight tint of his cheeks, "Mogami-san, please. We are trying not to be seen, remember?"

As the teenaged actress tried to climb out of his lap; he held her by the arm to prevent her from racing into the cafe. The fact that she insisted on struggling while in his lap made things very difficult for the man, "Tsuraga-san, I am not letting that fiend hurt Moko-san!"

Ren sighed, still fighting the urges that came with the squirming against his lap, "Mogami-san...do you think Yashiro would allow her to be hurt?"

Suddenly the blooming star ceased her struggle and blinked, looking to her sempai. He wasn't making eye contact, still trying to hide his blush and resist the urge to try anything too forward. She wasn't sure what was causing him not to look at her, and figured he was angry. Then again, there was no hint of his gentlemanly smile, more a nervous look. Why would that be? Still, assuming that Kanae would come to any harm while in the company of Ren's dear friend was wrong of her! A nod was given to show she understood, which her mentor saw from the corner of his gaze and released his hold on her. As soon as he did, Kyoko was in a dogeza before him apologizing as quietly, yet frantically, as possible, "Forgive me, Tsuruga-san! I should never have doubted Yashiro-san! He is your manager and friend, and I should know that he will take care of Moko-san!"

The corners of Ren's lips twitched as he smiled slightly, still trying to will the blush away from his features and control his desires, "Yes, well...alright then. You're forgiven."

"Thank you, Tsuruga-san!" She bowed so her head touched the floor a moment longer, then sat upon her heels, "What's going on now?"

Her sempai turned to peer through the opening in the branches. The orange haired teen crawled forward on her knees to peek through the bushes once more. It was the older actor who spoke first, "It seems Yashiro's said something wrong...Kotonami-san looks rather angry with him."

Kyoko nodded. It was plain to see that Moko was raising her voice slight and had a slight glare fixated on the man, who looked taken aback. Golden eyes widened at the next turn of events. Beside her that foxish grin spread once more over Ren's features as Yashiro reached across the table and rested a hand on Kanae's arm. Well, well. That was an interesting gesture on the manager's part.

"It would seem he's trying to calm her down." The veteran actor observed, not missing the fact that that touch had worked. Very interesting. Kyoko missed the implications of the gesture being anything more than friendly, but Ren didn't. He also didn't miss the brief glances his manager kept directing toward raven haired teen across the table from him as their food arrived and they began to eat, "Mogami-san...I believe we've seen enough. Perhaps we should return to LME before Yashiro and Kotonami-san catch us. They seem to be fine."

Kyoko blinked at his sudden suggestion that they leave. Hadn't he been the one so insistent that they follow the pair? But all of a sudden, it seemed alright to leave? She didn't understand. But she didn't think Moko would like being watched from the bushes, and it seemed like Yashiro was taking care of her a friend should. So the number one Love Me member gave a nod, "Alright, Tsuruga-san!"

Carefully to go unnoticed, the spies stood, and started back towards their place of employment. Ren continued to smile as he plotted his sweet revenge on Yashiro for the manager's habit of meddling. It would be fun to give the older man a taste of his own medicine!


	4. Realization

**A/N:** I finally got a couple of reviews! Thanks! I still haven't read past volume 24, so bear with my inaccuracies once again. I'm trying to keep this and the other two multi-chapter stories I'm working on going at about the same rate so that one doesn't pull out way ahead in number of chapters. So be patient if I don't update as often as you think I should, lol. I think I'm doing pretty well so far, though!

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

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**Chapter 4: Realization**

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Yashiro and Kanae went through most of their meal in silence. It was very awkward for the manager, but it was probably for the best. If they spoke, things might be even more strange between them, and he didn't want that. For some reason he was enjoying spending time with the young talento, more than he thought he would have. He didn't know her well, except through Kyoko, who seemed to think a lot of the girl she'd dubbed Moko. But he knew she was strong willed, and sometimes had a temper. He'd had reason to believe more than once that he'd end up on the wrong side of that wrath today, but at the times when he quite possibly most deserved it, she'd let any infraction he may have committed slide.

"Mo!" The sudden interruption of his quiet thoughts caused the older man to blink, "You're doing it again, Glasses-kun!"

He stiffened slightly at the irritated sound of her voice, what had he been doing? He'd been eating, hadn't he? Looking down at his hands, he saw a sandwich that had only a few bites more taken out of it than when he'd started his line of thinking. Apparently whatever he had been doing, it wasn't eating.

Seeing his confusion, Kanae glared down at her salad and speared a bite with her fork, "You're staring! It's starting to freak me out; I mean, do I have something on my face?"

Yashiro could have imagined it, but he thought he saw the slightest hint of a blush on her lovely cheeks. At the accusation, the manager took a quick bite of his sandwich, using the chewing time to think up an excuse as to why he'd been staring. He couldn't tell her he'd been lost in thoughts about her. That would just make things even more weird. Swallowing he used the first thing that came to mind, "Gomen, Kotonami-san. I was just wondering how Ren and Kyoko-chan are doing...and I guess I spaced out again."

For some reason, this caused the talento to narrow her eyes even further. She told herself it was because she was upset that he was helping to separate her from her best friend, but a part of Kanae couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed that in all the silence, that was what he had been thinking about.

That was the last of the conversation for the duration of the meal. When the time to pay the tab came, the server brought two bills. Having been told it wasn't a date, he assumed they'd each be paying their own, and on Kanae's he had taken the opportunity to jot down his phone number, just in case.

Imagine his surprise and slight horror when the bespectacled man reached for both slips of paper! "A deal is a deal, Kotonami-san. I'll pay."

"Of course you will." She replied coolly, flipping her hair over her shoulder as the manager seated across from her skimmed the bills.

"Alright, but you may want to see this…" He smiled at the waiter, who by now had a deep blush and look of utter embarrassment on his features, as Yashiro slid Kanae's bill back towards her, pointing at the phone number written on it.

Lofting a brow, the talento sighed, and looked at the server, "I'm not interested."

Yashiro blinked and looked at Kanae, then back to the waiter, who seemed to crumble at her words. Yes, she had told her co-worker that the server wasn't her type, but to be so blunt in rejecting him! It struck a nerve with the manager, who had been rejected countless times himself.

Before he could say anything, though, the young actress was up and heading for the exit, leaving Yashiro to pay for the meals as had been the plan. Of course, he'd assumed she'd wait for him to pay before leaving, it was rather rude of her not to! Quickly he left the correct sum and a tip for the waiter, making sure to leave a bit extra to make up for his dining companion's bluntness, before hurrying after Kanae, "Kotonami-san!"

She didn't pause or look at him as she kept walking away. But the manager's legs were enough longer than hers that he was able to catch up in relatively short order, despite the fact that the effort left him a touch out of breath, "Kotonami-san! Are you ignoring me?"

She stopped abruptly with a huff, folding her arms over her chest. Yashiro, who had been keeping pace, but still a few steps behind her, nearly collided with the girl! What was she so upset about anyway? He looked at her with a slight tilt of his head, wondering just what he might have done wrong, "Kotonami-san?"

"What is it, Glasses-kun?" Her tone was cool and calm, though it strayed a bit toward the icy side. She wasn't sure why she was upset. Maybe because the manager had pushed her into the situation of having to reject a man he knew she was not interested in. Perhaps because Yashiro had seemed to be so empathetic toward the waiter when she was the one he was supposed to be friends with. Noticing that he hadn't answered yet, she closed her eyes, "Mo! Say something!"

"I...uh…" Yashiro blinked, taken aback by the sudden anger in that last statement. What on earth had he done to deserve the LoveMe member's wrath this time? Adjusting his glasses he continued, "Aren't we going to walk back together?"

Kanae huffed again, "I said I'd eat with you. I never said I'd walk back with you."

The manager felt for himself a bit of the cracking sensation that had obviously torn through the waiter at the restaurant, "You know, Kotonami-san...while I admire your ability to be honest, perhaps some tact could serve you well…"

He sounded hurt, dejected. The talento couldn't help but notice it as she turned to face him, only to find him walking past her now. Blinking, her gaze followed him as he set off toward LME, leaving her behind to think over what he had just said. She hadn't meant to leave him feeling rejected. Why should he be feeling that way anyway? It wasn't as though this had been an actual date, right? Just a ploy to get Kyoko and Tsuruga alone together!

There was a dull ache in her heart as she thought of the fact that he must see her as some kind of evil bitch now. That was not what she wanted. Her eyes drifted shut once more as she sighed, setting off in the same direction he had gone, but lagging behind. She needed to think of someway to make him feel better without actually apologizing. She didn't like to apologize, after all. Not even to Kyoko.

* * *

Ren had walked back to LME with Kyoko, the pair having plenty of time to stroll together while Yashiro and Kanae ate. All the while the seasoned actor was scheming. He would have something to hold over Yashiro's head now, to get the manager to leave his love life alone. It was a quiet enough walk, until his kouhai looked up at him and noted the cheshire grin upon his features. It wasn't his gentlemanly smile, nor was it sincere one. No, this smile was scary, even more so than the faux one he wore when angry.

"Ts-tsuruga-san?" Kyoko broke the silence first, seemingly snapping Ren out of plotting as he turned to look at her, once more all innocence and manners.

"Yes, Mogami-san? Is something the matter?" He smiled at her, a warm expression that was something between his gentlemanly expression and a genuine look of happiness.

"U-um...A-are you feeling alright?" She was nervous with that look turned upon her. Her grudges weren't reacting, so she knew he wasn't angry, but there was something unsettling about the way his features were arranged.

"I'm fine. Really. You're concern is appreciated though. I suppose I'm just thinking…" He offered a shrug of broad shoulders as he glanced skyward, the clouds tinted grey through his sunglasses.

"Oh? About what?" Kyoko wondered aloud, curious as to whether, perhaps, he was forming a new role, or some other business related line of thought.

"Yashiro and Kotonami-san." He admitted, sending a sideways glance her way to gage her reaction.

Golden eyes blinked behind her own dark sunglasses as she looked at him, "What about them? They seemed perfectly friendly, isn't that why we decided to leave?"

A patient smile spread over the star's lips as he nodded, "Friendly, yes…"

Kyoko was thoroughly confused as to what there was to ponder over where their friends were concerned.

As they entered LME, Ren said his farewell to the talento who he had been walking with, and turned to leave. He had no sooner stepped into an elevator, the doors whooshing shut behind him, then he faintly heard Kyoko gasp out a horrified, "Tsuruga-san! You forgot to eat!"

* * *

Yashiro sighed softly as he stepped out of the elevator and made his way to his office. He wasn't sure what he had been hoping for when he had asked Kanae to join him for lunch, other than keeping her away from Kyoko and Ren or course, but this certainly not it. He felt drained and heavy. It was all he could to to drag himself down the hall to his destination. Slowly he lifted his hand to rest it on the knob, and after a few moments, he pushed open the door.

"Yashiro," The manager about had a heart attack as he was greeted by a familiar voice. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he looked at the chair at behind his desk, the chair usually occupied by the bespectacled man himself. The back of the seat was turned to him, but he would know the voice anywhere, and the taunting tone it held. This was not good.

"R-ren! You startled me!" He stammered out as he made his way into the office, the chair behind the desk turning to face him, revealing the dark haired man with a conniving smile. Yashiro chose to ignore the expression on his friend's features, "How did things go with Kyoko-chan?"

The star shrugged, smile never faltering, "Things went well. Mogami-san and I had a very interesting...outing."

"O-outing?" The manager suddenly felt short of breath, "S-so you didn't stay in the cafeteria? That is...interesting. Where did you two go?"

"There's this nice little cafe that Mogami-san frequents with Kotonami-san...I sure you know the place." Ren regarded his friend carefully, waiting for his reaction.

"I see...n-not sure I know it, actually." He watched as Ren stood and moved toward him, causing the manager to swallow nervously.

"Really? I could have sworn I saw you there...with Kotonami-san, perhaps?" Ren was cool in tone, relaxed in posture, but frightening nonetheless. What was he up to? Yashiro looked around the room anxiously.

"O-oh, yeah, I guess I do know where you mean. Hahah!" His response faded into nervous laughter as Ren canted his head, smiling and stepping back to lean against his manager's desk.

"Ah, now you remember. So, how long has this been going on, hmm?" He sounded friendly enough, but having known him for as long as he had, Yashiro knew he was up to something.

"D-don't get the wrong idea, Ren!" He held up his hands defensively, "It was-"

"Part of your plan to have Mogami-san and I spend time alone together." The star finished for him, "Oh, that I knew. What I meant was, how long have you been harboring secret feelings for Kotonami-san?"

"Wh-what?" The manager blinked. He didn't have any feelings, secret or otherwise, for Kotonami. And even if he had, she'd made it quite clear by her reaction earlier, that she wasn't interested, "I...i-it doesn't matter...even if I did...she wouldn't return them."

Suddenly the actor felt a little guilty for messing with his manager. He sighed and moved toward his friend once more, placing a hand on Yashiro's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the shorter man, who looked up at him, "Yashiro, really. You meddle in my love life, but you can't even take care of your own."

Again the bespectacled man dropped his gaze, looking rather forlorn. He didn't know what all Ren had seen, so he didn't know where the younger man was approaching the situation from, he just knew he had already been all but rejected.

"Why don't you follow your own advice, and just let her know how you feel?" The celebrity shrugged as his manager looked up at him, "You see? It's not so easy, is it?"


	5. That Awkward Avoidance

**A/N:** Hmm...It's been awhile since I've updated this. Gomen! Please, I beg your most merciful forgiveness! I am not worthy to write for your reading pleasure! But if I were I would still have to apologize for the fact that I still have not yet gotten beyond volume 24 of the manga! As for why I have not updated in so long, well...I was stuck on one of my other fics, then I just got caught up in real life, and my birthday happened back in August, and I got a kindle and have been playing with it, but it's actually really hard to type on, so I have to do any real writing on my laptop. Not that that is a fitting excuse for keeping you, my wonderful readers waiting! On a more positive note, this chapter will give you plenty to read until I get the next one up. The word count, it's over 5,000! Okay, not as impressive as 9000, but still...I'm amazed. It...it just kept flowing! It's like I'm bleeding to death...with words!

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just in case you're confused...I don't. Lol.

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**Chapter 5: That Awkward Avoidance**

* * *

Yashiro sighed as he sat in his office chair, head slumped onto arms folded upon his desk as his legs moved just enough to swivel the chair ever so slightly back and forth. It had been a week since his lunch with Kotonami, and he had been avoiding her as much as possible ever since. Should they see each other in the hall, he would abruptly change direction. If she happened to be in the cafeteria when Ren and himself stopped in to dine, the manager would quickly excuse himself, tray and all, to his office, claiming he had important paperwork to review over his meal. It was impossible to face the beautiful talento, because after having been cornered in his office by Ren immediately following the incident at the cafe, the bespectacled man had to face the truth: he was smitten with a teenage girl. A beautiful, intelligent, talented, and way out of his league teenage girl. Him. A man in his mid twenties. She, a seventeen, or was she eighteen now, year old girl. That wasn't creepy or perverted at all, was it?

Another sigh as another reason for avoiding the stunning talent came to mind. The last words he had spoken to her, true though they may have been, were harsh. In telling her that she lacked tact, he had been rather tactless himself. She was probably still angry at him for it. How could he face her after insulting her like that? He felt like sliding his arms from the desk, and repeatedly slamming his head against the place where they now served as its cushion. He was such an idiot.

On top of this, time when Ren was 'off duty' as it were, when there was no filming, when photo shoots had concluded, etc, was much more boring now that he didn't dare to play matchmaker in his charge's life. The reason for this lack of meddling was two fold. Firstly, he completely understood now how hard Ren had it. Just being in love wasn't enough if you were certain the person you cared for didn't feel the same. Secondly, being anywhere in the vicinity of Kyoko, and the LoveMe Section increased the odds of an encounter with his own crush. He almost laughed at that thought. Here he was, a grown man, using the word crush to refer to his feelings for a teenaged girl. How ridiculous. He really should have quashed these feelings the moment they first started bubbling to the surface. As it was, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He wondered if she was still angry, but didn't dare to find out. He wasn't sure what would be worse; having Kotonami angry with him, or having her not thinking of him at all. He doubted there was any room for middle ground. After all, they weren't as closely connected as Ren and Kyoko. He wasn't her Sempai, just another face in the building.

Forget sighing, this time the manager let out a frustrated groan. He was glad to have time to wallow in his self pity, as pathetic as it was. He didn't get to do so much, being constantly on the job, following Tsuruga Ren from set to set, keeping up a professional face. It was nice to wallow in the dark aura he found surrounding him, and he had at least another couple of hours to do so, since filming for Dark Moon didn't start until the afternoon.

Unbeknownst to the manager his charge was making a small amount of headway on his own where Kyoko was concerned, and the latest encounter between the two was taking them past his office door as they chatted about the day's planned filming schedule for their drama.

"Ah, so then you think this scene is-" Kyoko paused mid-step, finger still indicating the point in the script she had been speaking about as her grudges began to swirl about her, hot on the trail of something dark and forlorn. _So nice, so dark...over here...over heeeerrrrreeee!_

The rising star's golden gaze was drawn to the office door as her head tilted to the side. Wasn't that Yashiro's office? He was normally so happy! What on earth were her grudges detecting from behind his door that felt so...gloomy?

"Mogami-san?" Ren blinked as she stopped in the middle of asking him his opinion, and seemed drawn to his manager's door. Was Yashiro even in there? Well, actually, he most likely was...that was where he had been spending most of the week since the lunch with Kotonami.

"Is something wrong with Yashiro-san?" Kyoko asked, seemingly at random. Her sempai knew she was good at reading certain feelings, but certainly she had to at least be in the same room for that radar of hers to work, right?

"I'm sure he's fine, Mogami-san." Ren lied, putting on his best gentlemanly smile, not wanting to interrupt his discussion with his love interest because his manager was sulking.

"Are you sure?" The younger talent seemed quite concerned for their friend, it almost made Ren jealous. Almost. Not quite. Okay, maybe a little. Even though he knew she would be just as concerned for any friend that she thought was having problems. His smile only brightened.

"I'm quite su-" **FWUMP!** The sound of an impact, muffled because it happened on the other side of the door, and if he guessed correctly, a fair distance from said entrance, interupted his reassurances. Kyoko turned to her mentor with wide, worried eyes as Ren twitched a brow in irritation, "Perhaps he is simply trying to kill a fly?"

**FWUMP!**

"A fly? That sounded like a pretty solid impact!" **FWUMP!** Kyoko's wide eyes were now turned toward the door, and she bit her lip, clearly debating whether it would be more inconsiderate to intrude without permission, or let whatever was happening go uninvestigated when the person inside could need her help. Her hand twitched, clearly wanting to reach for the door.

"Mogami-san, perhaps I should check on Yashiro, just in case. Why don't you go and see how Kotonami-san is doing with her latest role?" Ren finally resigned with a sigh as another loud impact sounded. **FWUMP!**

Kyoko looked a little unsure, but didn't want to insult her sempai but implying he couldn't handle whatever was happening on his own. Finally, she gave a nod, and headed towards the elevator so that she could descend to the floor that the LoveMe section was located on.

Waiting for Kyoko to depart, a few more **FWUMP!** sounds passed before Ren drew a deep breath, reigned in his agitation, and opened the door to reveal his manager. Wide eyes disguised behind brown contacts blinked at what they witnessed.

Yashiro now sat at the desk, arms hanging limply at his side, repeatedly banging his head against the surface of his desk, cushioned only by the desktop calendar that, thankfully, was still showing the month of February, though that page would soon be discarded for March. The impacts weren't hard enough to leave a blemish on the man's face, but could be heard by passers by, if they bothered to stop and listen. A pair of glasses sat to the side, it seemed that their owner had at least had enough sense to remove them before beginning his self-abusive ritual.

"Yashiro…" **FWUMP!** Ren got no response as he tried to speak, calmly and softly, to his friend, because that was what the older man needed right now, a friend, not a business associate, "Yashiro?"

**FWUMP!**

The second try didn't seem to fare any better, with it's slight increase in volume. The actor sighed, hoping no one would be curious enough to look in when he shouted as a final attempt, and the end result of his building frustration, "Yashiro!"

The manager froze with his head in mid-arch as he tried to land another blow to his brow using the desk as his weapon of choice. Slowly the man lifted his face, blinking, having evidently scrambled his brains somewhat with the repeated whacks, "Hello, Ren."

As he spoke, he brushed a hand through his disheveled hair, glad it was only his friend and charge who had found him so out of sorts and unprofessional. His glasses were returned to their proper place and he checked the clock. There was still some time left before they had to leave for Dark Moon.

"What exactly was that supposed to accomplish?" The taller of the two inquired, gesturing to the desk to make clear what he meant, "Aside from establishing a serious headache."

Yashiro dropped his gaze to the desk calendar, his handwritten notes smudged across the surface where his face had connected with the paper. What had he hoped to achieve, exactly? "An expression of frustration?"

His reply seemed more like another question than an actual answer though, and this only caused Ren to sigh and shake his head, "Honestly, Yashiro. You like her, so why avoid her? I'm not saying you should confess, I know how difficult it is, just...stop actively running from Kotonami-san. What does that achieve?"

"We didn't exactly part on the best of terms after our lunch…" The matchmaker turned Cupid's victim grumbled by way of explanation, still not looking at his charge. How was it, that Tsuruga Ren, who couldn't get the girl he liked to express feelings beyond a sempai and kouhai relationship, was suddenly the acting love expert?

"And you're worried she might still be upset." The younger man wasn't asking, he was stating an observed fact. That was the reason that Yashiro wouldn't go anywhere near Kotonami Kanae. A small nod was given, "And how does avoiding her resolve things?"

The manager looked up at last, a confused incomprehension written on his features, "It...well...this way, she doesn't have to put up with me. I get the feeling I annoy her, and I would rather not do that."

A slow nod came from the actor. Kyoko's friend could be a bit prickly when she wanted to be, but he was sure that she wasn't as harsh as she seemed. If she was, she wouldn't have agreed to go to lunch with Yashiro in the first place. Ren wasn't an idiot, he could tell that Kanae wasn't his biggest fan, that the number two LoveMe member felt a bit threatened by the prospect of a relationship developing between himself and Kyoko, "So, she told you she doesn't want to see you? That you annoy her?"

"She strongly implied it." Slumping forward, Yashiro rested his now throbbing forehead against the heels of his palms with a sigh, "When I suggested that I thought we would be walking back to the studio together, she emphatically informed me otherwise."

Ren thought over the implications of this information, "So, she's angry because you offered to walk her back to the studio?"

"She's more likely angry because I accused her of needing tact." His friend admitted sheepishly, "Which I now regret of course! I mean, she isn't the most tactful person, but her bluntness is sometimes admirable. And either way, it was rude of me to point it out!"

Ren lifted a hand to his lips, hiding a smirk and a laugh behind a cough, "Yes, well, I can see she upset you, or you wouldn't have said such a thing. Have you tried simply apologizing? That is usually the best approach to such situations."

"You just made a point of saying I've been avoiding her." Yashiro pointed out flatly, making clear the fact that, no, he hadn't tried apologizing, "But even if I did, I don't think she enjoys my company, anyway."

Ren shrugged, "It can't hurt to at least apologize. And knowing Kotonami-san, even as little as I do, she seems to have some trouble expressing her true feelings. Perhaps she had reasons other than annoyance to decline walking back with you. She seems to have a hard enough time telling Mogami-san how she truly feels."

The manager thought about this for a little while. What other motives could Kotonami have had for dismissing him so bluntly? He thought he had been a gentleman throughout the meal. They seemed to have had a rather pleasant conversation, even if at first it was awkward. He'd paid like he'd offered. So what went wrong? He had been caught staring a couple times...she didn't seem to like that. A soft blush threatened his features at the memory. Perhaps the conversation was too personal? But she hadn't actually objected, and from what he knew about her, she wouldn't have hesitated to do so. What could he possibly have done wrong?

"I don't see why she would have-" Yashiro tried to argue further against the notion that he did anything but annoy the talento, but Ren held up his hand to stop him.

"When Mogami-san tries to hug Kotonami-san, what happens?" Ren reasoned, trying to solve the puzzle, even though he lacked several important pieces.

"Kotonami-san dodges, or pushes her away." The reply was hesitant and unsure.

"Does Kotonami-san seem to dislike Mogami-san?" The actor continued.

"Only if you don't know them. Actually, she really cares and worries about Kyoko-chan." Now it seemed to the manager as though his charge was trying to insinuate that Kanae liked him back! That didn't seem to make sense at all! Such a lovely young lady couldn't like a plain, boring man like him, "But Kotonami-san pushes everyone away, whether she cares about them or not!"

"So just because she seems to have pushed you away, that doesn't mean you should assume she doesn't care." A smirk spread over the stars face as Yashiro walked right into his trap. There was no reasoning away the fact that cold treatment from Kotonami Kanae did not equate dislike.

"Yes but even if...I mean...the age difference!" Yashiro was scrambling for reasons to avoid facing possible rejection of even friendship from the girl he was so smitten with. At least Ren knew Kyoko considered him a companion and a mentor, what if Kanae wanted no connection whatsoever with the manager?

"Age is just a number." Ren shrugged, turning the same logic that had been used on him so many times so many times where Kyoko was involved back around on someone else for a change.

"Well, that's one thing when it's just four years! You do realize that Kotonami-san is eight years younger than me. Eight!" He groaned and shifted to lean back in his chair, "It makes me seem like a creepy old pervert."

Eight years was a bit more than the four between Ren and Kyoko, true. It was double, in fact. The actor had to pause to think about his reply to this, "Well...why are you interested in her?"

Yashiro sat upright once more, lofting an eyebrow at his charge to show he didn't quite understand how the question would solve the pervert problem, "She's smart, determined, talented, not afraid to speak her mind...even if she could do so more tactfully at times...she knows what she wants and what it takes to achieve it...honestly, the way she behaves sometimes, it's easy enough to forget she's seventeen...but that doesn't change that she _is _a teenager."

"Yes, she is a teenager. You listed a lot of good qualities, Yashiro." Ren nodded slowly, "Her body wasn't one, I noticed. So...you don't want her for sex?"

The manager's eyes went wide behind his glasses, which he adjusted over his suddenly cherry red face. The heat his blush was giving off could quite possibly cause the spectacles to fog over, "Wh-what? She...well...I...n-no! I...I...th-that...sh-she's a….th-there's no d-denying...I mean just look at her!"

The actor had to cough, once more hiding a laugh, as his friend finally spat out something close to a coherent thought, "Yes...I've seen her…"

"Ren, she's gorgeous!" Yashiro admitted, still as red as a stop light, and glowing about as bright as one too, "But that doesn't mean I want to...I mean certainly not...she's only...and we haven't...I don't even know if she...and even if she did...it wouldn't be...at least not until…."

Ah, so that was the end of complete sentences in that regard, "So in other words, you don't want to pursue her affections for inappropriate purposes?"

After a few more moments of incoherently babbled phrases, the bespectacled man seemed to realize that his charge had spoken once more and blinked, turning towards the taller male, "Huh?"

"You don't want a relationship for sex...you weren't even considering it, at least not seriously, until I put the thought in your head. So, I would say that means you aren't a pervert." Ren clarified with a smile, "That solves that issue, what else is keeping you from talking to her?"

A thoughtful expression spread over Yukihito's face as he considered Ren's reasoning. It was accurate. In his mid-twenties, Yashiro was looking for more out of a relationship than physical satisfaction. Sure, he was still a man, such thoughts crossed his mind, of course. But, he was mature enough by now, he hoped, to reign them in, and keep them from taking over. And because of this, he had been attracted to many other aspects of Kanae besides just the physical. Although, he would never deny the talento's beauty. And now that Ren had put the thought in his head...thank whatever higher power there might be that the manager's face pretty much couldn't get any brighter. If he wasn't a creepy pervert a moment ago, well, he was now. Damn Ren.

The actor cleared his throat to draw his friend's attention back to himself. With a blink, Yashiro seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been draw into, and given the look of shock, stupidity, and embarrassment on the older male's features as he focused on the star, Ren smirked knowingly in return, "Ah, maybe I spoke too soon...but, I trust you can keep that in check, hmm? It's nothing to worry too much about. Anyhow, what else is keeping you from talking to her?"

Well, wasn't Yukihito just absolutely mortified by the fact that Ren seemed to know what images had been flashing through his mind. Thanks once more to that unknown higher power for the built in subject change that was included in the other man's line of thought, "Oh...uh...th-there's...well…"

The taller male waited patiently for his friend to come up with some argument. He didn't doubt that Yashiro would do just that.

"We never really spoke to each other...before last week, I mean. And what if she doesn't really want to speak to me? I really should just leave her be…" Looking down once more, the lighter haired man looked as if he had already given up, utterly defeated.

"I see. You've made the decision for her then." Ren reasoned with a nod, "You've decided that she doesn't want to speak with you...that doesn't seem like something Kotonami-san would appreciate, if I know anything about her."

Snapping his head back up so fast that his glasses almost came off, Yashiro opened his mouth to counter the statement. The only problem was, it was completely accurate. Given what knowledge he had about Kotonami, both through Kyoko and first hand experience, she wouldn't take kindly to decisions being made for her. Especially in regards to such personal matters as to whom she should or shouldn't speak with. With a defeated sigh, he nodded grimly, "Alright, I'll talk to her. Tomorrow. We've got to get Kyoko-chan and get to the set for Dark Moon."

A victorious grin spread over the actor's features as he moved towards the door. He wasn't going to point out that Kyoko was in the LoveMe Section, and most likely speaking with Kanae at the very moment. Yashiro would talk to the second LoveMe member tomorrow. Let the manager have a day to prepare what he was going to say, "Alright, I'll get Mogami-san, and meet you by the door."

* * *

Kanae was fuming. It was never the brightest idea to fix one's makeup when upset, for fear of becoming heavy handed with the cosmetics, but she did it anyway, in an attempt to focus on something other that the idiot that had her attention at the moment. She managed not to screw it up too bad, then stuffed the beauty products back in their bag, and shoved the bag back into her locker, and slammed the locker closed before finding the lock ridiculously difficult to click into place. Why the hell what the stupid little latch suddenly so hard to manuever into the stupid little slot where it belonged? In sheer frustration she ripped the lock from it's place, slammed it onto floor and let out a mighty roar of her monosyllabic catch phrase, "Mo!"

In all her angst, she hadn't noticed the door fly open, a figure on the other side prepared to pounce, step towards her, then freeze at the sight of a lock being hurled to the ground at her feet and the guttural release of her friend's iconic line, "Moko-san!"

The dark haired girl leaped about a foot in the air, which is difficult to do in the heels she was wearing, and whirled toward the door, still managing to land almost gracefully, with hardly any outward sign of the fact that she had almost certainly just survived a mild heart attack. Kyoko swept past her, picked up the lock, and easily clicked it into place on the other girl's locker, which served as a reminder of the emotion that had previously filled the room, anger, "Mo! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I'm sorry, Moko-san! I really didn't mean to! I was walking with Tsuruga-san, and he had to stop to check on Yashiro-san, and suggested that I come to the LoveMe Section and see what you were up to. I…" She paused. In the midst of her apologetic ramblings, she noticed her grudges were going haywire, feeding of the angry energy of her best friend, only to find that the emotion seemed to have dulled suddenly as she was speaking. However slight the change might be, it was still noticeable, and still odd, "Moko-san? What's wrong?"

Not wanting to discuss her feelings, and curious about the mention of a certain manager during her friends ramblings, Kanae turned her back with a huff and tried to divert attention from herself, "Is something up with Glasses-kun?"

"Glasses-oh!" It took the rising star a moment to connect Yashiro with the nickname Moko had given him, "Well, when we were walking by his office we heard a weird thumping sound, like he was hitting something really hard...like...maybe whacking a book on his desk...but I don't know why he'd be doing that. And even though I could see him I could sort of…"

Kyoko wasn't sure how to word the next part. She'd sensed the manager's depression. She knew she had little Kyoko grudges that picked up on negative energies, the Beagle had kidnapped one and shown it to her when he made her give him Valentines chocolate as ransom for the poor thing! But how could she possibly explain that to Moko?

Trying to remain as calm as possible, while at the same time trying to think of what could have caused the described the thunking sound (she most certainly could not picture Yashiro repeatedly hitting a book against his desk,) the number two LoveMe girl urged the other to proceed, "Sort of what?"

"Umm…" Kyoko set about changing out of her LoveMe coveralls and into her street clothes to stall for time, "You see...it's a bit hard to explain, actually….but…"

"Mo! Just explain as best you can then!" Kanae finally snapped after watching her friend drag out her mumbled reply while changing completely into the clothes she would wear to her film shoot.

The rising star let out an eep as she pulled on her final sneaker and hurriedly finished answering, "Icouldsensethathewasfeelingprettydepressed."

Kanae squinted, trying for a moment to decipher the run together words, before sighing in exasperation, "Try again, slower."

Kyoko sighed in response, focusing on each word as she said it, to force herself to slow down, "I...I could sense that he was depressed….I really wanted to check on him...Tsuruga-san seemed to think it would be better for him to do it, and he was probably right. He knows Yashiro-san better than I do, after all. I've just...I've never actually seen Yashiro-san depressed. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen him really sad. Well...maybe when he would forget to wear gloves and short circuit his cell phone, but…"

That was a lot more information than had been in that rushed blurt, Kotonami could tell. But, it was important information. Kyoko could somehow tell that Glasses was upset, depressed even. And apparently, he didn't usually behave that way. That seemed accurate from what she knew about him. He'd also been avoiding her for a week. Normally, not seeing the manager for a while wouldn't faze the talento, but it was pretty obvious what was going on. Every time they came within sight of one another, Yashiro would freeze for a brief second, and then take off, away from her. He wouldn't even stay in the same room. He was never with Ren when the actor came to see if Kyoko was present. And she hadn't even caught a passing glimpse of the man seeming to scheme to get the sempai and kouhai pair closer to each other. All put together, it was odd, and given the timing, and the avoidance, it meant one thing. He was still upset with her. Her lack of tact had done something to hit the man hard. Really though, all she'd said was that she didn't want to walk back to LME with him. It wasn't like they were on an actually date, or even really friends! It was a part of his plan to get Tsuruga and Kyoko alone together!

Unless...was he trying to be friends? Or maybe something more? Friends she could handle...but...something more? Wasn't he like twenty-five? That was a bit creepy, wasn't it? Of course, it couldn't be an attempt at anything more than friendship. He'd made a point of making sure she'd seen that waiter's attempt to give her his number after all. So...then he just wanted to be friend, right? And why was that a bit disappointing? Hadn't she just decided that a twenty-five year old and a seventeen year old was a bit creepy? Of course, if he didn't try anything too deprived...and he did seem like the sort of gentleman that would respect her and not push for such things...why was she even following this train of thought! Augh!

"-ko-san?" Kyoko's concerned tone drew her out of her rambling thoughts. Kanae's gaze snapped towards her friend, who had at some point moved to stand in front of her, leaning forward to assess the second LoveMe member's wellbeing.

"Mo! I'm fine! What's wrong now?" She snapped, trying to sound aggravated rather than embarrassed.

"I was just asking why you were so upset when I came in...you didn't seem to want to talk about it." The younger teen asked seriously, persistent in her quest to make sure everyone in the world was happy except her. Well, except herself, and Sho and Reino.

"I told you I'm fine! I was a little upset, but I'm okay now!" She stopped to think again. She had been upset because Yashiro had been actively avoiding her for some reason, and she had assumed he was angry, which made her angry. But it turned out that he was instead depressed. Most likely because he thought she had rejected his attempt to be her friend or whatever. Which meant this whole thing was her fault. Which shouldn't matter. Except it did. Which was probably Kyoko's fault. Yes. It was Kyoko's fault! Because Glasses was Kyoko's friend, and his depression was worrying her, and that worried Kanae! So, therefore, something had to be done to make Glasses feel better! And it most likely had to be done by Kanae herself. Which bugged the hell out of the strong willed talento, "What does Glasses-kun like?"

"Huh?" Kyoko blinked, unsure of where this sudden question had come from, with its tone of ultimate surrender. Why did Moko want to know what Yashiro liked? And why was she asking her? Wouldn't it be better to ask Tsuruga or Yashiro himself? The orange haired talent canted her head at her best friend, "You...want to know what he likes?

"Look, his depression or whatever is obviously bothering people, so I thought I'd get him something to try and cheer him up or whatever. It's not going to be pleasant working around here if everyone is getting depressed!" The talento hastily justified her question, folding her arms over her chest as if it would keep Kyoko from seeing her true, though strongly denied, reasons.

"So...you just want to cheer him up then, huh?" She paused to think things over, putting a finger to her chin. Kanae probably would have yelled at her for repeating what had just been explained if it weren't for the fact that the younger LoveMe was obviously already considering the options, "Well...I know that on Valentine's day he liked the chocolate I gave him and-"

"Mo! That doesn't help! It's already the end of February! And even if it weren't, why would I want to give him chocolate anyway!" The raven haired beauty exclaimed, not seeming to realize that she had cut Kyoko's line of thought off.

"_And_," The other emphasized to silence the interruption so she could continue, "He got a lot of dogs from the girls in the crew on Dark Moon."

"Dogs?" Kanae blinked in disbelief. He got dogs? For Valentine's? Surely she couldn't mean actual dogs, although knowing Kyoko it was not an impossibility.

The orange haired girl giggled, "Yup, statuettes, plushies, little doggy shaped erasers, all sorts of dogs! Apparently he really wants an actual dog, but his landlord won't allow it or something. So I bet if you got him something like a stuffed dog, that would cheer him up!"

"Really?" She sounded incredulous. Surely a twenty-five year old man would not collect stuffed dogs. It was ridiculous! Of course, this particular man happened to be a fangirl. He probably had a scrapbook of his favorite LME couple doing all kinds of things together, or photoshopped into situations he hoped they'd end up in together. A frown creased her brow. Yeah, he was definitely creepy. But, she didn't want him to sulk around forever because she was tactless. So, making quick work of changing into her street clothes, the talento then proceeded to throw open the door, nearly bowling over Ren, who was just preparing to knock and ask if Kyoko was ready to leave, in her attempt to leave. Fortunately the actor stepped aside quickly, allowing Kanae passage, though he couldn't help but watch after the retreating wave of fluttering black hair in shock.

"Is everything alright with Kotonami-san?" He inquired, knowing that Kyoko was behind him without having to turn to look as she pulled on her coat, "She seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere."

"I think she's alright…" Kyoko replied, though obviously uncertain, "She was upset when I came in...but...now she seems really focused on cheering up Yashiro-san. Oh! How is Yashiro-san, anyhow?"

Ren lifted a hand and coughed, his typical habit for hiding small trickles of laughter, "Oh, I think he'll be feeling much better soon enough. Are you ready to leave? We should be heading to the Dark Moon set."

The budding actress nodded, and they began a fairly leisurely stroll towards the door, where they were planning to meet the manager.

* * *

Yashiro stood by the door, waiting for his charge, and Kyoko, to appear so that they could set off to their filming. It seemed to be taking a bit longer than he had expected, actually. But, maybe he was just feeling anxious after his conversation with Ren earlier. He sighed, pulling a glove from one pocket and slipping it on before gingerly reaching into the opposite pocket and pulling out his phone, such a hassle just to check the time.

No sooner had he looked at the screen, then the device was knocked from his grip by a flash of black and white as it blurred past him. He made a desperate fumbling grab for the phone, and caught it! In the hand without the glove...damn. It was done for. Before he could even think of switching hands, it had fried completely. Ugh.

Only then did the manager have time to register just what had made him drop the ruined phone. It had been a person racing past. Long raven locks, flowing gracefully behind as a figure in what seemed to be a white peacoat streamed by him. His mind's eyes was able to slow the process down, almost frame by frame, and he went wide eyed, then slumped dejectedly as he realized that it had indeed been Kotonami Kanae running out the door. He had been avoiding her all week, and now she was returning the favor by rushing past without even taking time for a small goodbye. Or, perhaps she simply had some sort of emergency? That was a possibility? He shouldn't get too disheartened, or he would lose his nerve, and not be able to apologize the next day.

Finally, after an eternity, Ren and Kyoko leisurely strolled up to him, where he stood with his smoking phone still in his unprotected hand. His charge lofted a brow, but said nothing. It was Kyoko who voiced the obvious, "Yashiro-san, if you had a glove on, why didn't you hold the phone in that hand?"

Once more, the manager seemed to sag, shaking his head, "I...was. Then, whoosh! Next thing I know, it's in the other hand…"

With a sigh, he couldn't help but notice that his heart and mind seemed as friend as his phone.


	6. Attempting Amends

**A/N:** Firstly, let me say, the title for this chapter was obvious. It made sense, and I love alliteration, therefore, it had to be used once it occurred to me. Just thought you might like to know that. Secondly, if any of you follow the two stories I am also currently working on (for Fruits Basket and Samurai Champloo) know that they have not been abandoned! Well, not entirely. I am having trouble with the Fruits Basket story, and I have to review the Samurai Champloo story's progress so far before I can continue. Unfortunately, I have been keeping all my stories on GoogleDrive, because then I can work on them from anywhere...unless the net goes down, like it is as I proceed to type this. So, re-reading what I have so far in my Samurai Champloo story shall have to wait. On the plus side, this chapter has been building itself inside my head, even as I was typing the last one. So, I'm working on Unexpected for now. Yay! Still not past chapter 24 on the actual manga though. Boo. This is by far the longest chapter I've written so far though, most likely for any story actually! Yay-ish? So brace yourself for the 13000+ word onslaught! (Dun dun dunnnnnn~) I pulled an all nighter working on it, and the internet is now back up, so I can actually post. And this time, I can use the actual line! You know what I'm going to say, don't you? No? Let me enlighten you...It's over 9,000! (Words that is.)

**Disclaimer:** I've been using the same disclaimer for every chapter so far...you'd think I'd have it memorized. Thank to copy/paste, that is not the case. But, I trust you know the drill. Don't own Skip Beat! Yada yada.

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**Chapter 6: Attempting Amends**

* * *

"Mogami-san," Ren greeted his love interest with a genuine smile that made her grudges wither as he spotted her in the cafeteria, waiting for her turn to serve herself from the lunch buffet, "Are you alone today? Doesn't Kotonami-san usually eat with you?"

Kyoko turned her gaze to her sempai, blinded by his brilliant smile. She knew her best friend, Kotonami Kanae, would be running late meeting her for lunch. She was on a special mission, which Kyoko had dubbed 'Operation: Cheer Up Yashiro-san!' a title that had aggravated the other LoveMe member for some reason. She also knew she couldn't tell the man before her about this very covert mission. Moko, the name she had bestowed upon her best friend, had made it quite clear that it was to be a secret, telling Kyoko in no uncertain terms that if anyone found out, especially Tsuruga Ren, the orange haired girl would be held responsible, and their friendship effectively terminated. That couldn't be allowed to happen!

"Ts-tsuruga-san!" The rising star stammered at being addressed by her mentor as these thoughts all raced through her mind in the span of a second. She couldn't lie to him. He would know, he always knew when she lied somehow, and it made him very angry. She didn't like angry Ren, angry Ren might decide, god forbid, that she was no longer worthy of being his kouhai if she did not tell him the truth! But she could get out of this without lying! He hadn't directly asked where Moko was, after all! He'd merely asked if she was unaccompanied, and observed that the other talent was usually with her at lunch. Easy, no need to lie. Reminding herself to breath she smiled in return, "Ah, Moko-san is meeting me later. She had something to do before she came to lunch."

There. Not a lie. No need to worry any longer...except that Tsuruga-san was regarding her with a certain amount of suspicion behind a suddenly more gentlemanly smile. She'd answered his question, and honestly! What was he looking at her like that for?

The star couldn't help but notice the sudden nervousness in Kyoko's demeanor the moment he mentioned Kotonami. Curious. He watched her clearly racking her brain, before suddenly calming, and replying. Even more curious. The way she had answered, it was obvious she wasn't lying. She hadn't slipped into a character, at least not that he'd noticed, and she wasn't good enough to lie to his face without hiding behind one. Her spurt of confidence when delivering her answer meant she knew she was replying honestly. So why had she been so nervous? Obviously there was something secret about whatever LoveMe Number Two had to do. It was the only real conclusion. Kyoko had been so uncertain in the beginning, because she wasn't sure she could answer him without divulging that secret. He smiled, though it was a bit less sincere than at first, shifting more towards the gentlemanly end of the spectrum, "I see. Yashiro is running late as well. If it's alright, I think I'll join you while we wait. He's just finishing up something in his office, and Kotonami-san should be here soon, I can't imagine a LoveMe job keeping her from eating. They should at least allow her a break for that, yes?"

Some of the life was restored to Kyoko's grudges under the lessened sincerity of the smile, despite the nervousness that always churned in her stomach at the thought of having upset her sempai. He knew, he knew she was hiding something. She could tell. But he didn't seem to call her out on it. He just mentioned that he had been planning to eat with Yashiro, and that the manager was also running late, so the two of them might as well eat together while they wait, "Well, you better actually ea-"

She was in the midst of lecturing on his poor dining habits when the rest of his words sunk in and she froze up for two reasons. There she stood, solid as a rock, or a blood of ice, two thoughts echoing in her mind. _Moko-san was just going to leave Yashiro-san's surprise outside his office! She expected him to be away!_ That thought was trailed with the resounding realization that she would now have to explain that her friend wasn't technically on a LoveMe job, though it could probably have qualified as one, had it been officially handed down. Melded with the second thought, so much so that they really were one in the same, was the idea that her sempai would then want to know where Kanae was, if she wasn't doing love me work. If she was filming somewhere, then she most likely would have a bento provided if the job was to last this long.

These thoughts caused her brained to nearly shut down, golden eyes locked onto a spot beyond Ren's shoulder as the rest of the buffet line grumbled at the fact that they now had to maneuver around the Kyoko statue. The seasoned actor was pretty sure he could see a small amount of smoke spilling from her ears, and arched a brow as he wondered if he'd really broken her mental faculties this time. Still, it was quite the interesting reaction. It definitely meant Kotonami was not on a LoveMe job. And it quite possibly meant much more than that. He doubted that worrying over lying alone would cause her to melt down to the point of locking in place. What else had he mentioned in his phrasing to find out where Kanae was? He'd said something about eating with Kyoko. But he didn't think that would affect her in such a way, though it would be nice. Well, in a way. If she locked up at the thought of dining with her sempai, it would possibly be a sign of romantic interest. Or absolute loathing. He frowned at that thought, imagining how she would probably react if Fuwa decided to keep her company in such a situation. Would she freeze, or scream? He shook his head, it didn't really matter, because he was certain his offer to wait and eat with her was not the cause. The only other thing he'd mention was Yashiro being delayed in the office. But why would that cause this meltdown?

His eyes widened slightly as a thought hit him. Granted, it was a theory, but the pieces seemed to fit quite nicely. Kanae was running late because she was doing something. A task which, he had determined, was not LoveMe related. She and Yashiro had had a bad ending to their last lunch, and had been avoiding each other ever since. He knew Yashiro felt bad about it, in fact, the man was in his office gathering the nerve and running through his apology at that very moment. Was it possible Kotonami felt just as bad? Perhaps she had been told about yesterday's incident by Kyoko, who really only knew that there had been a thumping sound and that something just seemed off behind the closed door, and was seeking her on ways to make amends. But knowing how stubborn the dark haired girl could be, she wouldn't want to be direct with an apology, she'd do it in a roundabout way. Leaving a note or card, perhaps? Which she would do by sliding it under the door of a presumably unoccupied office during the time when the usual occupant of said space was out to lunch. Yes, that made quite a bit of sense. He smirked some to himself. Things might be getting interesting upstairs.

For now though, there was the matter of the still-frozen girl in front of him, who was oblivious to the people squeezing past her in frustration as they tried to proceed through the line. He lifted a fist to his mouth and coughed to hide a small laugh and compose himself into a more mature facial expression, "Mogami-san...you're holding up the line."

This seemed enough to bring the always considerate girl out of her statuesque state. She slipped out of line and began bowing repeatedly, not just to him, but to the people she had been holding up, apologizing profusely, and mostly being ignored by the other employees, who were just happy to have an unobstructed path through the buffet line.

* * *

Up in the office, it was just as Ren had thought. Yashiro stood against the wall that separated his office from the one next to it. His desk was situated a few feet away, facing the door to the hall, its back to the windows that lined the outside wall. A deep steadying breath was drawn by the manager, as he tried to compose himself. He'd been to nervous the last time, even he hadn't failed to notice the redness that tinged his cheeks and ears as he'd delivered his practice apology to the mirror that hung on the wall beside the spot where he currently leaned.

Pushing of the wall, he looked into the full length mirror once more, straight faced as he tried to project sincerity into his words, "Kotonami-san, I'm sorry for being rude last week during lunch, and for avoiding you since then. I do hope that we can still be friends."

His voice cracked as though he were repeating puberty by the time he reached the end of his practiced speech, color once more trickling over his cheeks and ears. That hadn't worked at all. He groaned and leaned his forehead against the mirror, smudging the glass surface. He was being too informal, especially by acting as though they had been friends to begin with. She had made it clear that any connection she had to him was through Kyoko.

So, righting himself again, he stepped back from the mirror, allowing himself room for more formality. Bowing at the waist, arms held in place at his sides, not daring to look up save a glance from the top of his vision to see a reflection blurred by the fact that it was peripheral and not aided by his glasses, he tried once more, "Kotonami-san, I sincerely apologize for my rudeness after lunch last week, and even more so for avoiding you afterwards rather than offering an apology sooner. It would mean a lot if you would consider me worthy of your friendship."

He winced at the sound of his own voice. That apology had been far too stiff. It sounded rehearsed, which shouldn't be the case even if he was, in fact, rehearsing. Okay, ultra formal was not the way to go either. He'd probably just get laughed at. Some happy medium had to exist!

Trying once more, he dipped only his head, and just enough for his eyes to be obscured by his hair, as well as the glare of the florescent lights off his glasses, "Kotonami-san, I'm sorry. I was the tactless one last week. I should have said so sooner. If you would give me the chance, perhaps we could be friends?"

He glanced up slightly, offering a small smile to his reflection. That actually hadn't sounded too bad. A bit rehearsed, but he doubted he'd actually say it perfectly when face to face with the talento anyhow. What mattered most was to get the gist of what he wanted to say, and how he would communicate it, and to build up the confidence to do so. He drew a deep breath, and nodded to himself. Alright, so, he could say the words, and he hadn't really blushed too badly this time from what he could tell. Now all that was left was to meet Ren in the cafeteria, track down Kyoko and Kotonami, and ask for a moment of the latter's time. The worst she could do was refuse him. Then it would be on to plan B. Try to 'accidentally' run into her when she was alone so that he could deliver his apology. It didn't count as stalking, not really. He wasn't trying to gain anything out of it, after all. Well...friendship and forgiveness maybe, but...that didn't mean he was a stalker! The thought made him hang his head and sigh. He seemed more like a creepy pervert every day. Hopefully plan A would work.

Another deep, reassuring breath, a roll of the shoulders and a once over in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable, and the manager made his way toward the door.

* * *

After swearing Kyoko to secrecy, Kanae headed toward the managerial offices. Yashiro's would be there somewhere, even if she'd never been there in person before. There was a directory in the lobby where the elevators let out on the floor where said offices were located, and she skimmed it until she found the approximate room number, before heading down the appropriate corridor. It didn't take long once she was pointed in the right direction to find the door with a neat nameplate that read Yashiro Yukihito. That was Glasses-kun's real name, even if she never used it. She'd heard Kyoko refer to him as Yashiro-san often enough. The Yukihito part was new to her, but, it seemed to flow with his surname.

The young talent cast a wary glance about. She couldn't be caught in what she was about to do. There didn't seem to be anyone in the hallway besides her, they'd probably all headed to lunch. A quick glance at her hands as they tightened around the handles of a gift bag confirmed that her present, and the card that went with it, were appropriately concealed from the public eye. She'd had to sign the card. There wasn't a choice. And even if she hadn't, the manager would have known who it was from, simply from the nature of its contents. Her hands were trembling slightly. Why was she so nervous? It was ridiculous! Stupid even! She just had to hang the bag on the door handle, and then turn and leave. After lunch, Yashiro would return to his office, find the gift and apology, and hopefully have enough common sense to not ever mention it aloud. Though somehow, she wasn't sure she could count on the man to have that much sense of any kind. With a derisive huff, she contemplated turning and leaving, not even bothering to deposit the bag in its intended spot. She spun on her heel, ready to do just that.

That was as far as she got before the words of Kyoko telling her how depressed Yashiro had seemed reverberated in her mind. Ugh! She couldn't leave him like that! Not knowing she'd caused it, and that it was upsetting Kyoko! Because that was the most important factor. It was upsetting Kyoko. If it wasn't for that, she told herself, she wouldn't care. Her fists gripped the handle of the bag so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and she turned again, much more slowly this time since she practically had to force herself, back towards the door. Slow, deliberate, jerky steps took her forward, closing the space between her, and the entrance to the office. For Kyoko...for Kyoko. It was all for Kyoko. Trembling, white knuckled hands reached out, ready to drape the handles of the gift bag, a green bag with white polka dots, over the door knob. Almost there. Almost...Almost...

**WHAM!**

Kanae blinked, stumbling back and almost dropping the bag in her hands. One hand remained grasping the handle, much more loosely than before, as the other lifted to feel her face. What the hell just happened?

A petrified Yashiro stood frozen in the door way. Trying to move quickly lest he lose his confidence, he had forced the door open with far more force than technically necessary, only to meet the resistance of a person standing on the other side. Imagine his horror, absolute and terrible horror, when he realized just who that person was, and where the door seemed to have connected! Finally pulling himself together he spluttered out an attempted apology, or should he greet her? No, apology first, right? Oh, but he should get her some ice or something! He quickly reached out at any rate, gripping the elbow of the hand that held the gift, not even noticing the bag, as he pulled her into his office, still struggling to form a coherent thought.

"K-Kanae-cha-...no...ah..I mean...uh...K-Kotonami-san..." Yes, he couldn't address her so informally, she wasn't Kyoko, after all, and they weren't technically friends, and probably would never be after this! He wanted to groan, but he had to tend to her first, he guided her to his seat behind the desk, as a well cushioned office chair, it was probably more comfortable that the other ones in the room, "I am so...I really didn't know you were...what are you...I mean...uh...s-sit down, and I'll get you some ice..."

He gently urged her into the seat before turning to the mini-fridge he kept in his office. It wasn't very well stocked, actually. He only kept it there in case he had people come to his office for meetings. Then he could offer them drinks. He had cans of soda, bottles of water, cartons of juice, there were different containers of iced teas, and on the very top was a tine door to a itsy bitsy freezer. He couldn't touch the fridge bare handed, of course. It was technology, and he and technology, well, they didn't mix. This meant it took just a little longer than it would for someone else for him to actually access the fridge. Normally he made a point of telling people to help themselves. But this time, he would have to get into the small freezer himself. He wasn't actually sure if her even had any ice, but a cold can might work just as well if not. So, he pulled on his gloves, and pried open the main door to the mini-fridge, then the itsy-bitsy freezer, where he was shocked to find an icepack designed for just such an occasion. He didn't remember putting it there. Maybe Ren did? It didn't matter, the thing was a godsend at the moment! He quickly pulled it out, wrapped it in a layer of napkins, which he kept a small pile of on top of the fridge, shut the doors of the fridge with his still gloved hands, and hurried to Kanae's side. Throughout this whole process, he was still spluttering fractions of apologetic sentences.

It took a moment for Kanae to register just what had happened. The door she had been about to hang the gift on had been flung open, whacking her in the head. It didn't seem to have broken any skin, and fortunately, it didn't seem to have hit anywhere that would leave a visible mark on her face. That was good. As she was dragged into the office, she heard someone apologizing, or attempting to. They were calling her by name, or they had started to anyway, before quickly switching to using her surname. Soon enough it registered who the voice belonged to.

"Glasses-kun?" She grumbled, moving her hand from her face, which she had determined had escaped any serious damage from the impact, to the top of her head. She winced as she felt it throb beneath her fingers, telling her it had taken the brunt of the blow. The bespectacled man had guided her to the chair behind his desk, and settled her into the seat, still attempting to apologize as he pulled on gloves before rummaging through a mini-fridge, which in her confused state, didn't even register as odd. It wasn't until she absentmindedly moved to set the weight of what she held in her hand on the desk that she remembered what it was, and why she had come, and that he wasn't supposed to be here, dammit! Her cheeks blazed brightly as he shut the fridge and hurried to her side with an icepack that he seemed to keep in the fridge for some reason.

The manager, in his worry, didn't even think as he leaned in to examine her face for any detectable injury. A face was a talent's greatest asset after all, at least one that wanted to make it big in a field such as acting. It was an automatic reaction for him to check there first. He noticed her blushing, and pulled back quickly. Finally gathering his wits about him, he managed a coherent thought as he held out the icepack to her, "L-looks like your face won't be bruised at least...I'm really sorry."

"It's not like you have X-Ray vision," The girl muttered, equal parts embarrassment and sarcasm reflected in her tone as she snatched the napkin-wrapped ice pack from his grip and placed it to the top of her head, praying she didn't end up with a goose-egg later. It was as close as she would get to allowing the fact that it wasn't really his fault.

A nervous chuckle escaped Yashiro as he realized he was being let off the hook, at least he thought that was what her words meant, "True...but, I still feel bad. I could have hurt you. And, I owe you another apology, Kotonami-san."

She blinked at him, brow lofted in curiosity as she waited for him to finish, her hand maintaining a steady pressure against the cold compress on her skull.

"Ah..." He knew she was waiting, but all of the practiced poise and presentation left him in the sudden change of approach. Here she was, in his office, and he hit her with the door no less, and this wasn't at all how he'd planned the situation to begin with, and even though he knew he wouldn't be able to deliver the practiced lines perfectly, now he had absolutely no idea of how to deliver them at all. And she was obviously getting more impatient by the second if her look was anything to go by! Drawing a deep breath, he did the only thing he could, he decided to wing it, "I know I should have done this much sooner instead of putting it off, I guess I was a bit nervous, and I'm sorry for that too. Erm, it...what I'm trying to apologize for, is my own tactless remark after lunch last week. I should never have been so harsh with you. And I'm sorry."

He gave something between the full waist bow that he had found too stiff, and the head dip that he had decided on. It turned out more like a defeated shoulder slump that lasted a few moments before he lifted his head just enough to peer up at her, hoping to see her reaction. What he saw, was surprising. It seemed she hadn't really been expecting him to do such a thing, at least not at that moment. Her beautiful eyes were blinking at him, as she regarded him carefully. Did she doubt his sincerity? He tried to reassure her, "I mean it, I truly am sorry, Kotonami-san."

"I believe you..." She replied after a moment, though she still sounded a bit uncertain. After a brief pause, she sighed, looking away and narrowing her eyes before continuing in a begrudging voice, "I guess you had a point in saying I lacked tack, though, maybe. But your right, you should have said something sooner, instead of avoiding me!"

No sooner had she finished her words than her free hand snatched the gift bag from the desk and thrust it out towards Yashiro. The manager blinked stupidly at it, not having noticed it earlier in his hurry to apologize and make certain the young woman was alright, "Umm...I...what's that for?"

The seventeen year old may have started to blush, though she would never admit it, and he was sure he'd imagined it. She shook the bag at him, indicating he should take it. When he still just stared at her, uncertain, she huffed, "Mo! It's for you, baka!"

This was a complete shock! Yukihito looked at the bag, then the teenage girl, sure he'd misheard her. There was no way the most beautiful girl at LME would be buying a gift for a lowly manager who was eight years her senior, especially one who had been so foolish around her, "For me? I...but...Ren's birthday was earlier this month...but mine isn't...and even if it was...there's no reason for you to..."

Kanae was quickly growing frustrated. Standing abruptly she shoved the bag into Yashiro's hands and moved towards the door, "Kyoko-chan thought you were depressed...so I thought I'd cheer you up for her! Don't think it's anything special though!"

"Kotonami-san?" He held the bag close to his chest, over his heart, not bothering to see what it was yet. This was the second time she'd claimed to be concerned for him on Kyoko's behalf, he really wished, just once, it would be her own concern that drove her to do something so nice.

"What is it Glasses-kun?" She snapped from the doorway, not even bothering to look back at him. She still had his icepack clutched to her head in one hand, though her other rested firmly on a hip, which was defiantly angled to one side.

"Uh...thanks." He tried. She huffed and went to walk away again, causing a stir of panic in the manager's chest. He didn't want her to leave yet. He hadn't had a chance to make sure they could be friends, real friends, not just through Kyoko. He had to make sure he could have at least that much. Bag still clutched to his heart in one hand, he closed the distance to the door in a few short strides, moving without even realizing it. He was shocked to find himself suddenly standing in the doorway, with Kanae standing in the hall just beyond, her progress stopped by his hand on the wrist of the free hand that remained dangling at her side. Now she had turned to look at him over her shoulder, a strange expression on her features, sort of a confused scowl. He didn't want to let her walk away, so he didn't release his grip until he had already begun to speak, "You should sit in here for awhile."

The LoveMe girl's eyes widened slightly, perfectly groomed brow lofting at the resoluteness of his tone. The expression had the man backpedalling in an instant as he tripped over himself trying to explain, "I...I just...what I mean is...uh...th-the door! I...when I open it...i-it hit you pretty hard, right?"

This seemed to have Kanae pausing to consider, though she still neither accepted nor declined the suggestion that she remain in his office. Encouraged by the fact that she seemed to at least be thinking over his words, Yashiro continue, "So...you should probably wait awhile...you know...before moving too much. "

She took a hesitant step toward the door, and he stepped back, smiling in relief as he made room for her to enter once more. He seemed to have her wanting to rest in his office at least, which would give him a chance to make sure she really was okay, and extend the offer of a genuine friendship. That was all he wanted at this point. He smiled at her as he decided how to best word such a thing, and attempted to just as she was stepping over the threshold, "Besides, when I get presents, I like my friends to be there when I open them, so I can thank them properly!"

It happened so quickly, but to him it seemed like slow motion. At some point during that final phrase, he thought it might have been the word friends, her eyes seemed to widen in a look of fear, or wperhaps disgust. The girl turned on her heel, her long, obsidian locks lashing out around her, and made a dash for it. He tried once more to reach out and stop her, if only to apologize for offending her, but he was too late. Fingers closed on air, a hairs breadth behind her elbow as he moved into the hall after her, taking a few steps in pursuit. He wanting to give chase, to shout after her, but that would be making a scene. As it was, the sound of high heels clicking as they raced down the hallway was causing a few people who had chosen to work through lunch to peer out small openings in their doors. These spies didn't want to be spotted, but he'd heard the slight creak of doors coming ajar as his fellow managers investigated. He could feel a few sets of eyes on him, and the heat began to creep up his neck, spreading across his cheeks and over his ears as he quickly stepped back into his office, pulling the entrance shut behind him a little too hastily, causing it to slam.

A groan slipped from the twenty-five year old man's lips as he dragged his feet across the floor towards his desk. He slumped into the seat that only minutes ago had been occupied by Kanae, somehow, a hint of her perfume seemed to linger in the air, but that was probably his imagination. He set the bag on the desk in front of him, and leaned back, closing his eyes with a sigh. What was the point of even opening it now? Any chance he'd had of sparking a friendship was gone. He should have treaded more carefully, more slowly. The very mention of considering her a friend had caused Kanae to bolt! He definitely wasn't going to the cafeteria now. Nope. He couldn't face Ren. Not at the moment, anyway. If the tall idol wanted to speak to his manager, then he could come to the office.

* * *

Kanae didn't stop running until she reached the elevators. She pressed the button to call them to the floor several times, willing them to get there sooner. She couldn't just stand around! He might follow her, he had been following her down the hall, but she'd given him the slip, or had he just stopped after the first few steps? She hadn't been paying that much attention. She'd been lost in horror at what he had just said. Mortification!

In honesty she didn't need any friends, well, any besides Kyoko.

In honesty, that wasn't what horrified her. She really hadn't even recognized the offer of friendship.

He had been intending to open the gift with her in the room! That was the scary part! What was the point if she was there when he opened it? What was the point of struggling to write out some semblance of an apology, using up three blank cards to get it worded right so that it didn't sound too kind or too cold, if she had to go through the humiliation of watching him read it! The whole point of the gift was so that she wouldn't have to do anything in person! She certainly didn't want to see his face when he saw the stupid gift she'd bought to go with the card, didn't want him to know that she'd spent two hours looking for just the right present to say she was sorry. She hadn't even meant to take that long to pick one out! She'd just...lost track of time!

Her face was bright red just at the thought, her fist clench tight around the pilfered ice pack that she hadn't realized she still held against her sore scalp. The arm that moments ago had been gripped by the manager in his attempt to stop her from leaving was bent at the elbow as she repeatedly continued to jam her index finger into the button to summon the stupid elevator. Where the hell was that thing?

There was a ding, and a whoosh, and finally she was able to practically leap into the elevator in her haste to get off the floor. She pushed the button for the floor the LoveMe Section locker rooms were on. She wasn't going to cafeteria. Yes, she'd promised to meet Kyoko. She'd have to text her, and apologize for not showing or something. But she was in a panic! She couldn't walk into a room full of yammering, clueless idiots, and a bubbly best friend to boot, when she felt like she needed a paper bag to regulate her damned breathing! Why couldn't she breathe? Why was she so terrified? Get a grip, it was just a gift, and it didn't really mean anything. It was just so Glasses would stop sulking, and Kyoko would stop worrying. And now she wouldn't have to be there when he opened it. She wouldn't have to watch him read her apology, or see the look on his face when he opened the stupid present.

Damn doors were taking too long to close! Even if she just pushed the button for the floor she wanted half a second ago, she pushed it again, and held it this time, hoping to make the stupid elevator work. She released the button, and finally the doors whooshed shut. The elevator rumbled to life, and transported her to the appropriate floor. She stepped out of the elevator when it ground to a stop and opened once more, taking a deep breath, smoothing her pink coveralls, and trying to compose herself as she looked around. She seemed to be the only one in the lobby. That was good. It meant Glasses hadn't beaten her here on another elevator or something. It also meant no one would see her cool exterior falter from time to time as she tried to hold off her panic attack, constantly telling herself there was no need to have one anymore.

As quickly as possible, but trying not to run or appear like she was rushing, she made her way to the locker room. She opened the door casually, stepped in gracefully, and closed the door quietly before slumping down against the entrance. There was no need to panic. No need to worry. She didn't have to be there when he opened the gift, so everything was fine. Everything was fine, except the nagging feeling that this incident was definitely going to come back to haunt her later. She groaned, pulling her kneed up to her chest, and her phone from her pocked in one fluid motion. Folding her arms over her knees in such a way that she could still use the cell, she used her teenage thumb agility to text Kyoko in record time. The phone remained in her limp grip and she flopped her head forward onto her arms and let out another groan, a small amount of dampness finding its way from her lashes onto her arms.

* * *

Having eventually gotten Kyoko to stop apologizing, and proceed through the lunch line, which she of course dragged him through as well while making sure to pile his plate as full as possible, Ren settled at a table with her. The orange haired talent had insisted on sitting rather near the cafeteria entrance, if only so she could keep an eye out for Moko. Her mentor did not object, interested as he was to see Yashiro's reaction to most likely running into the other LoveMe girl on his way to meet him. Besides, the famous actor was content to dine with his unsuspecting love, no matter where she chose to sit.

He watched Kyoko from the corner of his gaze, idly eating as he observed her. She kept an eye on the entrance, looking agitated and worried, gnawing on her lower lip rather than her food. It seemed for once, Tsuruga Ren was doing more eating than his Kouhai. This only served to confirm his suspicions that Kanae was likely to intercept Yashiro somewhere along his route to the cafeteria, both parties unsuspecting.

The rising star was so focused on the entrance; her mentor probably could have openly gawked at her without drawing her attention. Where was Moko? She should have been here by now, had things gone smoothly. She was planning to drop off the present to cheer up Yashiro, and then head directly to the cafeteria. Except her sempai had said that his manager had still been busy in his office; Kyoko physically winced at the possibilities as she bit her lip a bit harder. She knew Moko didn't like to be overtly caring. And even though the other LoveMe member tolerated the attempted hugs and shows of affection from Kyoko with only mild irritation and dodging, that didn't mean she would be so considerate to others. She also knew that her friend most certainly didn't want to be found out as the person who had left the gift to cheer up Yashiro. The orange haired talent had suggested putting in a card from the LoveMe section, and possibly even letting Ren sign it. Kanae had vehemently objected, and hadn't even let her see what the gift was, claiming that it would be too hard to make the bag look presentable once more if the offering were removed and then put back in. While it left the fledgling actress incredibly curious as to just what the package concealed, it made sense. The tissue paper perfect hid the bag's contents, smooth and unruffled, a perfect match to the white polka dots that studded the green bag. Just a hit of the corners of the tissue stuck up from the package. If they removed the gift, then tried to put it back, the tissue would certainly get mussed. No, it was better to leave it as it was.

Anyway, Kanae was determined to remain anonymous, and Kyoko knew this. Which is why, the longer her friend took to arrive, the more anxious she became. Instead of food, she chewed her lip continuously, her meal growing cold as she simply poked at it with her chopsticks.

"Mogami-san," A voice near her ear, accompanied with a warm puff of air again her cheek, caused her to jump as she was stirred from her contemplation. Before she had landed, she had turned to face the source, her mentor, looked at her curiously, covering his mouth and coughing, though she thought she might have seen the corners of his mouth twitch slightly behind his fist, "I didn't mean to startle you...I was just wondering if you feel alright."

Blinking as she relaxed her breathing, she nodded, "I'm fine, Tsuruga-san. I should be apologizing. I've been ignoring you, haven't I? You were so kind as to offer to wait with me, and I have been nothing but rude in return."

Her head dipped in shame, she felt shame and regret for ignoring her sempai and making him worry about her. Her gaze lifted, however, at the feel of his large hand resting gently on her head, "Mogami-san, you've done nothing wrong. I was only asking, because for once, you're the one not eating."

He gestured to her plate, and the starlet looked down to see all her food swirled into one brownish looking pile of slop. Meat and rice and vegetables and tofu, a few more western style samples of food, a Jell-O desert and the whipped cream that had topped it were all mixed together as well as they could possibly be by swirling chopsticks. It looked rather unappetizing, mostly because of the addition of the Jell-O and whipped cream, "Oh...I guess I hadn't noticed..."

Appetizing or not, she couldn't stand the thought of wasting food. Kyoko began to eat, her face showing no hint of whether or not the mixture actually tasted decent. Of course, the Jell-O parts were hard to grip with chopsticks, more intended to be eaten with western style tableware. Ren watched her for a moment, trying to keep whatever he was thinking off of his features, and doing a rather good job of it, aside from the slight upturning of his lips, "You're worried about Kotonami-san."

His kouhai practically choked at the accuracy of his observation. Had she been that easy to read? She turned to face him, letting her chopsticks rest on the edge of her plate.

"You chose a table near the entrance so you could keep an eye out, and she's not here yet." He explained his reasoning, which made sense to her. It became even clearer with his next set of observations, "You haven't looked away from the door once in the last fifteen minutes, and you didn't touch your food until I mentioned it."

"I...well..." How was she supposed to explain her concern without giving away the secret mission? Her brows furrowed with thought, and then shot up in surprise as her phone went off in her jumpsuit pocket, signaling a text message. She quickly pulled it out, checking and finding that Moko had just contacted her with a brief text.

_Not coming. Mission Failure._

Kyoko quickly stood up, not bothering to even clear her tray as she moved out of her seat and around the table toward the exit, "I...sorry, Tsuruga-san, maybe I can explain later! I have to go now!"

With a quick apologetic bow, little more than a bob at the waist really, she took off running. She had to find Moko! The girl was probably mortified! She'd been caught in the act, trying to be an anonymous spark of sunshine. She didn't like to be seen as warm and fuzzy, Kyoko knew that well enough. And whatever had transpired had embarrassed her enough that she hadn't wanted to come to the cafeteria! Her first stop, or course, had to be the LoveMe Section locker room. Before Kanae left the building to run from her problems all together, she was most likely to change out of her uniform. Even humiliated already, she wasn't going to want to make things worse for herself by being seen in the atrocious attire.

It didn't take long for the number one LoveMe member to make it to the afore mention room, not when she was running at full tilt. She was moving so fast that she almost skidded right past the door when she tried to stop. Wheezing and gasping for the air she'd lost during her race to get there, she wrenched open the door, causing the girl who was still leaning against the other side to spill into the hallway, blinking in surprise up at her best friend.

Kyoko skimmed her friend's appearance. Damp eyelashes, Mokohad actually been upset enough to cry! There was a cell phone on the floor on one side of the sprawled girl, and an ice pack on the other. The cell made sense, Kanae had just sent the text message a few minutes ago. But what was the ice pack for? "Moko-san! What happened? Are you hurt!"

The older teen pushed herself off the floor, gather the items shed had dropped and moved silently back into the locker room, not wanting to discuss her problems in an open hallway. Kyoko stepped through the door after her, demanding an answer, "Moko-san! Are you hurt?"

Kanae glowered at her, "Door."

The single word confused the younger talento for a moment, then she understood, and quickly closer the entrance, sealing them off from the rest of the company, "What happened, Moko-san? Why couldn't you come to the cafeteria? What did he do?"

The girl called Moko flopped onto the couch that was provided for the LoveMe girls, and stared at her hands, resting them and the items they held on her knees. By now the ice pack was half melted, the napkins soggy and tearing. She should give it back. She couldn't face the manager again though. Not after he opened that bag. He was sure to want to talk about it now, about why she had run. She could tell, he wasn't the kind of person who was just going to let this drop. Her wall began to crumble, that shield she rarely let down even with her best friend around, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Moko-san!" Kyoko was immediately on the couch beside her, her hand on the girl's shoulder, leaning close so she could look at Kanae's face, and if the older teen had cared to notice, the worry would have been plain to see on her friend's features, "Did...did Yashiro-san do something to you?"

She didn't want to believe that Yashiro, the manager and best friend of her sempai, would do anything to hurt her friend, but...Kanae had been up there so long. And here she was on the couch crying. She had an ice pack, half melted, in her lap, and looked like the world was ending! All the older talent did was shake her head, Kyoko's brow creased, "What's wrong then?"

"I j-just..." Dammit! Why was she crying? How could she be so damn sentimental and weak? Kanae hated it! She hated letting anyone see her like this, letting anyone get her this worked up to begin with! And of all people, why did she let that glasses-wearing idiot get her in this state? And her self loathing at the moment wasn't helping, it only made more tears spill over, which made her hate herself more, which made the cycle continue, "He was in t-the office!"

Kyoko frowned, trying to comfort her best friend by gently rubbing her back, "I was hoping he'd have left already...Tsuruga-san said he thought he was finishing up something...but I was hoping..."

"You sh-should have let me know!" Kanae sobbed out, even though she knew it wasn't her friend's fault. Kyoko's warning probably would have been too little too late anyhow, "I was...j-just getting...r-ready...t-to leave the...g-gift...and he o-opened the door..."

Here the older teen lifted the icepack and rested it on her head, as though just remembering that she had been hit there, and might be at risk for developing a goose-egg. Kyoko knitted her brows as she listened, saying nothing, just listening, and rubbing Kanae's back in an attempt to sooth her, "I-it hit my h-head...hard. A-and...before I knew it...h-he was dragging me into the office..."

The orange haired teen, distrusting as she was of men, even if they were talking about Yashiro, found this phrasing a bit disconcerting. Her expression shifted slightly, letting her new concerns show through, but her fellow LoveMe member let out a strangled sound, halfway between a laugh and a sob, as she attempted to smile after realizing what the younger girl was thinking, "N-no...nothing like th-that...h-he just wanted..t-to apologize...and g-give me the ice pack..."

Glad to hear that Yashiro wasn't some sort of villain, at least not at this point in the story, Kyoko sighed in relief and nodded slightly, finally breaking her silence even if it was only to utter one word, "Good."

"B-but he c-caught me!" Kanae suddenly wailed, "And I just sh-shoved the bag at him...and I...I tried to run...b-but he...he wanted me to st-stay...b-because I h-hit my head!"

"Well...that makes sense, actually..." The younger talent didn't want to make her friend feel worse, but it was true. A head injury could be a dangerous thing, after all, "He just wanted to make sure you were all right..."

"H-he wanted...m-me to be there...when he o-opened th-the present...b-but...I c-couldn't!" She had slowed her weeping to a soft whimper by this point, cradling the icepack to her head in one hand, and wrapping the other arm around her stomach to hug herself, that hand still gripping her cell phone.

"Why?" This prospect genuinely confused Kyoko. She knew her friend didn't like to put a spotlight on her softer side. But she'd already been caught as the one giving the gift. She'd spent at least fifteen minutes in the office with Yashiro, and handed him the bag directly. There was no denying her connection to the mission at this point, "I'm sorry, I just mean that he already knows you're the one behind the mission, so...I guess...does it really make a difference now?"

Kanae winced at the question, hugging herself a little tighter and looking away from her friend. She really, really didn't want to have to tell Kyoko what was actually going on. But, since the younger girl was her best friend, and was trying to actually help and comfort her, she should. Through gritted teeth, she spilled her secret, "It wasn't just a present to cheer him up."

Now the LoveMe number one was very confused. There were no holidays going on, and Ren hadn't mention Yashiro having a birthday coming up, "What do you mean? If it wasn't to cheer him up, what was it for?"

Under her breath the number two muttered an unintelligible reply, still not looking at her friend.

"Huh?" Wide golden eyes blinked innocently, the rising star leaning in closer in an attempt to make out what was being said.

In a voice louder than strictly necessary, Kanae snapped out a repetition of the response, "An apology! Okay, it was an apology gift! Mo!"

"An...apology?" Obviously Kyoko was still a bit confused, her brow furrowed in thought. The last time she'd seen Yashiro and Kanae together, they had been at the café. Oh, but Moko wasn't supposed to know that she'd seen them there. Still, Yashiro and she had seemed like perfectly good friends then. And it wasn't like they spent much time together, so far as the orange haired girl knew. Of course, she wouldn't have expected them to have lunch together either, so maybe she was wrong about that, "What were you apologizing for?"

Here, the older girl sighed, trying to figure out how to best explain. She didn't want Kyoko to know that she had gone to lunch with Yashiro the day she was supposed to meet Kyoko and had canceled. She was certain it would upset her friend to have been ditched, especially for a guy, even if it wasn't for anything romantic, "We had an argument. I was too...blunt...and it upset him."

Number One pursed her lips as she considered these words. Kanae was rather blunt and terribly upfront about things. It was an admirable quality. But she could also see how it could hurt someone's feelings. It must have happened to have been Yashiro's feelings that got hurt this time. Slowly the younger teen nodded in understanding, "Alright, so you wanted to apologize...because you thought you were why he was depressed?"

Kanae nodded, and Kyoko fought back a smile of pride over the accuracy of her guess. The second member muttered again, utterly embarrassed, but continuing to spill "I wrote out an apology card...I couldn't stand the thought of being there when he read it..."

This made sense. Kyoko's friend hated to apologize. The rising star wasn't even sure if her friend had ever even apologized to her! It actually made her a bit jealous, to think that Kanae would apologize to Yashiro, but not her, when she was her best friend! But then, did Kanae actually have anything apologize to Kyoko about? That could be pondered later though! Now that she thought she had the whole story, the orange haired teen decided she should summarize, just to be certain she understood correctly, "So you felt bad about hurting Yashiro-san's feelings, and wanted to buy a present to make up for it. You even wrote a note to apologize. You figured he would find it after lunch, but instead he found you trying to deliver it, and tried to get you to stay to watch him open it. Which, for someone like you, is very embarrassing."

Kanae simply nodded. That about summed it up. The older girl hung her head, closing her eyes, and sighed, "The only thing your missing is the part where he tracks me down to _talk to me_ about it."

The tone of her friends voice told the member one that the other teen was absolutely horrified at the idea of actually having to discuss her feelings on the matter with Yashiro. It was probably bad enough having to tell Kyoko, and she was her best friend, "I don't know if he'd do that though..."

The look that was sent her way said that the humiliated party was rather certain of her impending doom. She knew that Yashiro would track her down, and want to talk about the contents of the card. He'd been pretty eager for her to watch him open the gift after all, and he didn't seem shy at all about expressing his own regret when he did something he felt was wrong. So if anything, he'd want to apologize for making her feel awkward. Which would just end up making things worse. Ugh.

Kyoko pursed her lips as she tried to think things over. The only thing she could think of to tell Kanae was that it was something she'd have to brace herself to deal with. But saying something like that would make her a terrible hypocrite. And being a hypocrite would make her a bad friend. She frowned at the thought of how often she tried to avoid things. Like whenever she thought she'd angered Ren. She didn't want to face him for fear of hearing him say he didn't want her as a kouhai anymore, "I'm sorry...I don't have any best friend advice to give...I'm really sorry."

Beside her, her friend's shoulders began to shake, and she thought that the other girl was beginning to cry again. But on closer inspection, it seemed Kanae was struggling not to let out a bark of laughter, "That's not something you need to apologize for, baka. You've already helped enough."

The younger talento was caught off guard when her friend broke tradition and gave her a brief, but solid, embrace, even going so far as to mutter, "Arigatou, Kyoko-chan."

Hearing herself being thanked, the girl in question was tempted to make a joke about pod people, but the out of character girl soon snapped back to being herself sending her best friend a stern glare along with a verbal warning, "And if what happened in the room ever, _ever_ finds its way to another living soul, I will never speak to you again. You hear me!"

A small smile spread over Kyoko's lips, because she had no intention of telling anyone, "I understand!"

* * *

A knock sounded on the door of Yashiro's office. Either it was Kanae, coming to apologize for running off earlier, and let him thank her for the gift properly, or much more likely, it was Ren, coming to see why he had never made it to lunch. Of course, it could be a third party coming to speak about business. Whatever the case, the manager sat up straight in his chair, smoothed his hands over his suit some, combed his hair with his finger a bit, straightened his glasses, and set the green and white polka dot gift bag, which he still had not opened, off to the side before clearing his throat and trying a cheerful, "Come in!"

The door opened into the hallway, and revealing his second guess to be the accurate one, as he'd suspected. Ren glanced around the office, shutting the door behind him as he stepped in, his dark brown eyes landing on the gift which had not been there previously. Ah, that had been what Kotonami had come here for, then. His suspicions had been somewhat on target, it seemed. He offered a simple greeting as he tore his gaze away from the bag and settled into a seat in front of his friend's desk, "Yashiro."

"Ren," The simple greeting was return, though awkwardly, as the manager cast a nervous, sidelong glance at the present that his charge seemed to have noticed, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm not here on business, actually. Just checking on a friend." The taller man replied, folding his hands on his lap as he leaned forward, "Of course, neither did Kotonami-san, so I suppose it works out. You had planned to approach her in the cafeteria, correct?"

Yashiro shifted slightly in his seat, getting that uncomfortable feeling that his client knew more than he was saying, "That was my intention."

A nod was offer in reply, followed by a moment of silence during which the older man felt himself grow unbearably hot, though it might have been his imagination. Finally, the star spoke, "Mogami-san was waiting for Kotonami-san as well, but as I said, she never arrived. Apparently, she had 'something to do' but whatever it, kept her delayed for some time. Eventually, Mogami-san received a text, and took off in something of a hurry."

A frown contorted the manager's features. So, Kanae really had been upset. Very much so by the sounds of things. He hadn't meant to do that. He would have to apologize, and let her know he in no way meant to pressure her into a friendship she did not desire. His slouched some at the thought, "Is that so?"

"Hmm..." A simple hum of confirmation, followed by more silence, "She met you along the way, didn't she?"

"Kyoko-chan?" Yashiro sounded confused, either he was picking up some acting skills by watching Ren at work, or he genuinely hadn't followed the conversation as it swerved back to Kanae.

"No, not Mogami-san" The actor tried to steer him in the right direction, whether he had feigned his confusion, or had actually been perplexed.

"Ah..." The older male sighed and cast a glance at the bag on his desk, "Kotonami-san."

All that was given in response was a nod. Ren waited for his friend to tell him what had happened. Silence reigned. A sigh sounded as the star rubbed a hand over his face, realizing there was more prompting to be done, "What happened? Evidently, things didn't go well..."

"You could say that..." Yashiro offered with a small, bitter sounding puff of laughter, "What do you want to know? How I hit her with the door while she stood in the hall? How I practically forgot how to speak when I realized what had happened? Or maybe how I chased her away with a mention of friendship?"

A brow quirked as the seasoned actor listened to his friend berate himself in the form of questions. Things really hadn't gone well, it seemed. A heavy sigh flowed from the manager as he laid his head on the desk, "Don't start hitting your head against the desk again, Yashiro."

The bespectacled man lifted his head once more, blinking, "I wasn't planning on it...but...I really messed up."

He groaned and once more lowered his head, as though it were simply too heavy to hold upright any longer.

"I don't know...you haven't filled in all the blanks." Ren reasoned, "All you've told me is the bad parts of what happened, but things had to happen in between, right?"

A grunt came in reply, then nothing. Rolling his eyes the actor continued, gesturing to the bag on the desk, though his manager wouldn't see since he was face down against the desktop calendar, "Did that present come from her?"

A slight sound, the scratching of hair and glasses against the paper of the calendar, was followed by more silence. Okay, no words, but this was at least some progress, "It doesn't look like you've opened it at all."

"What the point." Yashiro bemoaned into his desk, "Any chance I had at even friendship is gone. She probably won't even talk to me again!"

"Open it." Ren's tone was stern, commanding, "At least give her the courtesy of seeing what she gave you. She took the time to pick something out, so she can't completely hate you, right?"

"Kyoko-chan told her I was depressed. " He finally lifted his head, propping his chin in his palm with the elbow resting on the desk as he regarded the green and white polka dotted bag.

"So?" It was the actor's turn to be confused. What did Kyoko sharing something like that with a girl she considered her best friend have to do with this?

"She bought me the present because my depression was upsetting Kyoko-chan." He explained in a dull tone, still focused on the bag, perhaps trying to decide whether to actually bother to open it, "Kotonami-san doesn't like seeing Kyoko-chan upset."

"Or, Kotonami-san didn't like hearing that you were depressed." Ren reasoned, shrugging, "Either way, she went through the trouble of picking something out for you personally. It would be a shame not to open it."

Taking off his glasses, which were smudged now from pressing his face against the desk moments earlier, Yashiro rubbed the bridge of his nose where the pads would normally rest. There was some sense to what his charge was saying. He knew that. From what he'd learned about Kotonami, she didn't really like to display closeness with anyone. That was why he'd been nervous about asking so directly about even a friendly relationship. But, the manager really didn't want to get his hopes up, only to have her keep smashing them back down. Again he look at the package, reaching into one of his desk drawers to retrieve a lens cloth and some cleaning solution. He spritzed the solution onto the lenses of his glasses, and proceeded to wipe the smudges clean as he considered his options. On one hand, Kanae could have only been acting to make Kyoko feel better, his own mood being a means to an end. On the other, she might have meant it as a genuine attempt to cheer him up, and her inability to share such things in person had lead her to flee rather than watch him open the present. He smiled slightly at that thought. Sliding his glasses back into place upon his features, and putting the cleaning supplies away, he finally decided.

Ren couldn't help but grin slightly as Yashiro finally reached over, pulling the bag into the spot in front of him on the desk. The manager looked at it a moment, head to the side, "You don't think she'd get me anything...technological...do you? Should I wear my gloves just in case?"

Trying not to laugh, his charge hid it behind a cough. Seeing through the trick, his manager scowled slightly at him. This was a serious problem, dammit! Regaining composure, Ren reassured his friend, "Even if she had gotten you something like that, it would be in a box or other packaging. You couldn't hurt it until it was out of the package."

This made sense to Yashiro, who turned his attention back to the gift. His fingers wriggled centimeters away from the tissue paper. Ren lofted a brow. Did the older man feel the need to stretch his finger muscles before opening a gift or something? The fingers squirmed as the bespectacled man stalled for time, "It's a beautifully done wrapping job...erm...bagging job? I guess it's not really wrapped, is it? But still, it's a nice looking pac-"

"Yashiro," Gentlemanly smile in place, the actor tried to keep the tension from his voice as he addressed his manager, who blinked, looking nervously up at him. Gesturing to the bag, Ren indicated his friend should proceed with opening the gift.

"Alright," No sense delaying the inevitable, after all, though it was a shame to ruin such a beautifully packaged gift. He drew a deep breath, and tugged at the tissue paper, which was surprisingly firmly in place. It took a more solid pull to get it away from the actual gift. When at last the object was revealed, Yashiro stared into the bag, blinking. It was...

Ren sighed. Whatever was in the bag, his friend hadn't taken it out yet. He was tempted to smirk as a hidden part of his mind urged him to tease that maybe it was something intimate, he pushed the thought aside. In a fluid movement, the star stood and moved toward the desk, where he peered into the bag. He blinked, smiled, and tried to hide a laugh behind a cough, but failed utterly, because what was supposed to be a single sputter of a laugh became a fit a sniggers, "That's...that's...well, it's not what I would have thought Kotonami-san would have gotten! It's adorable!"

Yashiro felt his ear grow hot as he pulled on his gloves and withdrew the 'adorable' gift from the bag at last, holding it up to look at it. It was a clock. More specifically, a clock held between the front paws of what looked like a caricature of a shiba inu. It was not in a box or package. When the item was exposed to the sunlight that filtered in through the window, the curled tail of the shiba inu began to wag. It was definitely not something he would have pictured Kotonami Kanae buying. And it was not something he would have imagined owning. Wasn't this item a bit more...for preteen girls? He'd seen such things in the stores, flowers whose leaves moved, angel's whose wings beat, and other such contraptions whose mechanics were powered by the sun. Though this was the first time he'd seen a dog wagging its tail. He just stared at the clock in his gloved hand, bewildered. He wasn't sure if it was meant to cheer him up or not, at this point.

When Ren had recovered from his giggle fit...erm...snigger session, because sniggering is totally more manly than giggling...anyway, when Ren stop that laughing thing he was doing, and caught his breath, he glanced back down at the bag while Yashiro was still busy with the clock, "There's a card in here."

That brought the managers attention away from contemplating the cheeriness of the gift verses its girliness. He was starting to wonder if Kanae might think he was gay to get him such a present, "A card?"

Ren nodded, and pointed into the bag, Yashiro followed his indication, and spotted a white envelope tucked neatly against the side of the bag. It blended in with the tissue paper that still lined the edges of the package, no wonder the man had missed it after discovering his present. He set the clock down on his desk, and, still wearing his gloves for no other reason than he hadn't taken the time to remove them, the manager reached in and peeled the envelope away from the side of the package. It had his name scribed on it in careful calligraphy. Kanae had taken her time to make this present very presentable.

Setting the envelop on the desk, he removed his gloves so that it would be easier to open, making a mental note to make sure to put them back on before handling the clock. He probably wouldn't forget anyway, but even so, he wanted to make sure. Girly or not, it was a gift from Kanae, after all. So it was precious. He'd just have to make certain to drop hints that he was interested in women at some point if he was ever going to try and let her know he was interested in her.

The gloves were neatly placed next to the shiba inu clock, which continued to wag its tail happily, and he picked up the envelope once more, taking a moment to admire the calligraphy that formed his name before carefully opening it, slowly, making certain not to tear into the writing. Ren lofted a brow as he watch. He had known his manager was a fangirl about other people's romances, particularly a certain client and a LoveMe member name Kyoko, but apparently Yashiro was also an absolute sap when he happened to fall for a girl himself.

Having finished the delicate task of opening the envelope, the bespectacled man gingerly removed the card from within, setting the now wrapping that bore such beautiful calligraphy on his desk carefully. He would find a safe place to keep card and envelop when he had finished the task of reading the sentiments contained within. Looking at the front of the card, it lacked any sort of external message. It did however contain an image of a shiba inu. This one was a photograph though, rather that the caricature style resemblance that the clock bore. He flipped the cover of the card open, finding the inside to lack any printed message, and instead filled with the neat, handwritten script of the girl who had presented it to him. He stared in wonder for a moment. A handwritten message? Personalized for him? He certainly wouldn't expect that from someone trying to cheer him up as a means to an end.

At some point in time, Ren had worked his way around the desk to stand behind his friend and manager, and was peering over his shoulder at the card, able to see that it was one of those blank ones that the sender filled in on their own. He smiled some, "What does it say?"

Yashiro jumped as he realized his charge had snuck up behind him, casting a look over his shoulder as he tried to keep the adrenaline from surging at the surprise, "I don't know, I haven't read it yet."

The actor's dark brow lifted as he forced back a laugh, allowing himself only the satisfaction of a smirk, "Savoring the moment? I wonder if it's a love confession..."

The manager's cheeks flared brightly at the suggestion, though he highly doubted it. He closed the card abruptly, yet carefully, to keep Ren from reading over his shoulder, "Whether or not it's a confession, it's private."

"So suddenly affairs of the heart are private?" The younger man teased, sauntering away from the desk and towards the door as he reminded his friend with those words about the times when roles had been reversed.

"This is different!" Yashiro attempted to protest, mentally searching for ways to back up his argument. He could see that Ren had stopped at the door, leaning against it to look at him with a questioning gaze. It was an obvious challenge, that stare told the manager to prove this theory of the situations being different, "For starters, this is a note, a private communication."

"Like the conversations with Mogami-san that you're always begging me to tell you about?" The actor coolly questioned, shooting down that evidence.

"But...but this is a note..." The older man spluttered, still trying to keep the argument afloat, "And...those are verbal communications...and...it's different..."

"And if you weren't afraid of my phone getting fried, you wouldn't steal it to see if I had any interesting text conversations with Mogami-san?" Ren goaded, pretty sure that his manager would do so in a heart beat if it weren't for his...technological issues.

"That's not the-" Yashiro began, then stopped, his eyes widening, "You text back and forth with Kyoko-chan? I knew you spoke on the phone from time to time, mostly when she needs advice, but text messages?"

And he was in fangirl land as he pictured Ren and Kyoko, texting sweet nothings late into the night, blushing at the things they can key into their phones that they wouldn't dare speak aloud. The man's eyes practically sparkled as he watched his mental images play out.

"Yashiro." No response. The manager was deep into his fantasies, it seemed. Ren sighed, pushing off the door, crossing to the desk, and leaning over to reach for his friend's treasured card, "I guess I'll have to see what this says, since you're too busy day dreaming..."

That worked. Immediately the shorter man came to, angling his body away from his charge in an attempt to keep his precious note from Kanae out of the intruder's reach, "Don't you dare, Ren! This is for my eyes!"

The actor lofted a brow at the strong reaction, then shrugged and turned toward the door once more. He sorely wanted to tease his manager with a comment about how a reaction like that would be expect over a nude photo rather than a simple card, but that was not quite something in line with what Tsuruga Ren would do...maybe. It would be so fun to watch Yashiro squirm at the notion though. He smirked at the idea, "I'll be going then to let you enjoy your love confession in peace."

With that, the younger man waved casually with one hand, and used to other to open the door. Before his friend had time to stutter a response, the door was shut, and Yashiro was left alone with the card. Adjusting his glasses, the shorter man sighed and proceeded to sink back into his chair, giving the card a thorough once over to make sure it hadn't gotten damaged at all during the brief effort to keep it out of Ren's grasp. It appeared unharmed, fortunately. Now it was time to read it. He drew a breath, gathering his nerve to actually interpret the characters inside, rather than just look at how beautifully they were crafted, and flipped open the cover, carefully of course. Through his glasses he gazed as the perfect handwriting, eyes sweeping over the message.

_Yashiro-san,_

He blinked and almost had to stop right there, for fear that the rest of the handwritten card could not live up to that salutation. She'd addressed him by name! Granted, it was his surname, but...it wasn't Glasses-kun! Not that he absolutely hated the nickname, it endearing in its own sort of way. But to be called by his surname...well, it was much less easily mistaken for contempt or insulting. He'd never been certain exactly what she intended when she called him Glasses-kun. If she meant it as friendly teasing, or cruel mocking. But Yashiro-san...that could only mean him, and it wasn't insulting in the least! He could almost hear it in her voice too...Yashiro-san. And maybe, one day she'd even go so far as to call him, dare he even dream it...Yukihito-kun! He felt his ear grow hot at the thought, and forced himself to slow down, reminding himself that they technically weren't even to the friends stage yet, so getting to a given name basis was still quite a ways off. Forcing his fantasies of being called Yukihito-kun aside, the manager returned his focus to the card.

_Yashiro-san,_

_I say things without thinking sometimes, and can be blunt, even if I don't mean to be. I'm not sure why acted the way I did after lunch last week, but I've thought about your parting words. I really don't have tact. I guess that's something I should work on, since it can be an important thing in the entertainment industry. I can't go ticking off everyone I work with by being tactless._

_I get the feeling you've been avoid me. You take off every time our paths come close to crossing. It's weird running into Tsuruga-san with you not by his side. It kind of makes things awkward if he's around and you're not. In the cafeteria, for instance, he seems to gravitate towards Kyoko-chan and me now that you're not there. I guess he doesn't know who else to sit with or something. But I can't have him hanging around all the time!_

_Kyoko-chan said you were depressed the other day. I thought it might be because of what happened at lunch last week. So, here. Look, it's got a dog. You like dogs, right? She said you do, anyway. Something about getting a lot of dog things at Valentine's, and not being allowed to have a real one. As for the clock, I'm sure you've seen it by now, it's a bit girly, but the tail wags. I know it's not the most realistic looking dog, but I thought the tail wagging made up for that. You can put it somewhere, and when you come in it'll be happy to see you, or something stupid like that._

_And if you're paying, I guess we could go to lunch again sometime. If you want to get Kyoko-chan and Tsuruga-san some alone time or whatever. Don't get the wrong idea, it doesn't mean anything. I just like the idea of someone else paying for my lunch once and awhile. But maybe we should go somewhere else if we do go to lunch again, at least for the next time. Kyoko-chan and I went back to that café, and the waiter's been weird too. I'm guessing that might have more to do with my tact issues. He did try to give me his number. But it's actually your fault for pointing it out, when you could have just ignored it!_

_Just stop being so depressed, it's worrying people._

_Kotonami Kanae_

* * *

After reading the note, Yashiro stared at the card a while longer, letting the contents sink in. He supposed it was an apology, which made sense when he considered the timing of actually being presented with the gift. He'd just made his own apology, after all. She'd also made note of the fact that he'd been avoiding her, and even though she made it sound like it was because Ren was causing her an inconvenience due to his absence, the manager was pretty sure she was asking him to stop avoiding her. The part that stood out the most was that she was willing to go out with him again. Well, go to lunch. Go out made it sound like a date. And she'd been very clear about stating that going to lunch with him meant nothing, which, while disappointing, was a step up from being hated to the point of being ignored, which was what he'd feared. It almost seemed like an attempt at friendship.

He smiled slightly at the thought. Friends was a start, at least. He couldn't go directly from not even being on her radar to being her lover after all. He blushed softly, maybe lover was too intimate a term to apply to a girl who was seventeen year old, even if her was romantically interested in her. Boyfriend? That was a bit better. He would go with that goal instead. With that matter settled, he let his sight settle on the last line before her signature. Most importantly, the second half of that last line: _it's worrying people_.

She hadn't said it's worrying Kyoko. She hadn't said it's worrying Ren, though he was pretty sure she wouldn't care as much about Ren's feeling as Kyoko's, other than if Ren's feeling affected Kyoko's of course. People. It's worrying people. Was she one of those people? He couldn't help but wonder, and perhaps even hope, that she was.


	7. A Touch of Flirting

**A/N:** Alrghty, I believe it's time for another chapter to this fic! I've got some ideas granted from reviews on the last couple chapters, but the best ones are best worked into later chapters, which left me struggling a bit with this one, so it's much, much, much shorter than last chapter...only around 5,000 words. I had a starting point though, so, I went with the flow to see what would happen. I don't have anything major to apologize for this time, I hope. Except that pesky problem of _still_ being on chapter number 24. Guh. I know people are wondering why I don't just catch up via scanlations. The reasons are twofold. Firstly: Scanlation sites, however reputable, seem to give my comp viruses. Therefore, I trust none of them. Second: I prefer to pay for the manga and thus allow the mangaka and the translators to profit from their honest work. And while I could read the manga online and then buy it when it comes out in America, I know myself well enough to know that that probably won't actually happen. I'm a horrible person that way.

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Touch of Flirting**

* * *

Kanae was, to her own surprise as well as everyone else's, running a tad late for work. Fortunately, she didn't have any actual filming projects scheduled for that day, but that was still no excuse to be so unprofessional! Irately, the talento muttered to herself as she bustled through the doors, storming her way through the building to the LoveMe Section's locker room, "Mo! I can't believe this! How could I have forgotten to make sure my alarm was set!"

It wasn't as though she was incredibly tardy, only about fifteen minutes or so behind schedule, but it was the principle of the matter! It made her look bad! Thus it was that the number two LoveMe girl already found herself in a foul mood as she threw open the door and stomped into the room where she would change into her garish pink coveralls. Of course, no sooner had she entered then she had to sidestep a flying hug from Kyoko, who fell into an unceremonious heap upon the floor in the now vacant doorway.

"Mooookoooo-saaaan~" The younger girl wailed in a mix of relief and lingering concern as she climbed to her feet, tears shimmering in her golden eyes, "I was worried! You never arrive late! After yesterday, I thought maybe-"

A glare from her friend caused her to fall silent, "Don't mention yesterday! Not ever!"

The previous day had been the apology gift debacle. It seemed like an eternity ago, and yet like mere moments ago. Kanae was still bearing the humiliation of the incident, but that would never have kept her from her job. It wasn't as though avoiding work would make the problem disappear. She just had to hope that Glasses-kun would be too busy to attempt to approach her in person.

Proceeding to her locker, she retrieved the gods' awful uniform she was required to wear, and began to change. By the time she was done, she could sense her best friend sitting at the table behind her, watching her back. It was a little creepy, actually. Even though she was pretty sure the rising starlett hadn't watched her change, the fact that she was staring now gave Kanae the willies. Whirling on the younger teen, she snapped, "Mo! What is it?"

"I don't know if I should tell you Moko-san…" Number one voiced in meek honesty. There was something she had wanted to tell her friend, but it had to do with yesterday, and now she didn't know if Moko would want to hear it.

"Just tell me!" The older talento was getting exasperated. Whatever it was, she didn't want Kyoko beating around the bush! If she had something to say, she should just hurry up and say it!

"Well…" Kyoko reached into the pocket of her own pick jumpsuit and withdrew an envelope, which she pushed across the table. While it was slightly rumpled from being in the pocket, it wasn't opened, and the name 'Kotonami-san' was clearly written across the back, "It was on the floor when I came in...I think Yashiro-san pushed it under the door. I didn't want anyone else to find it and open it, so I thought I would keep it safe. I should have let you find it yourself though, it was very inconsiderate of me to take it, gomen!"

Kanae held up a hand to silence her apologies before they could get out of hand as she snatched up the envelope, looking at her name on it, "You're sure it's from Glasses-kun?"

The Dark Moon actress shifted in her seat, "Almost certain. It looks like his handwriting, but I didn't see him leave it…"

The elder talent nodded. She wasn't sure why, but her heart felt like it was beating unusually hard. Surely that couldn't be the effect of the relief she felt over the realization that Yashiro had enough wits about him to not try to speak to her in person about her apology efforts. Wasn't relief supposed to cause you to relax? So why did she suddenly feel more nervous than before?

Realizing that Kyoko was still watching her expectantly, Kanae snapped her gaze away from the envelope to glare at her friend, "Mo! What now?"

"Aren't you going to open it?" The orange haired talent inquired innocently enough, her head canted slightly to the side.

"Not with you watching!" Her fellow LoveMe member bristled in reply, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Who knew what sort of stupid things Glasses had to say in response to her apology. She didn't want Kyoko around to find out what was in the letter! Whipping around so that her back was to her friend, Kanae made an act of putting the envelope in her locker, "Don't you have a sempai to pester or something?"

"Not really…" Kyoko blinked at the question as she replied honestly. She had no real reason to meet with Ren until they left to work on Dark Moon that afternoon. A few moments of thick silence later, it seemed to finally dawn on her that Kanae meant she wanted left alone, "But I think I should probably find a nice, quiet place to review my script!"

With that, the younger teen made her way quickly out of the locker room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as the other was gone, her comrade withdrew the envelope once more, her gaze dancing over the way her name looked upon the back before she flipped it over to peel open the flap. Inside was a piece of lined paper, with a handwritten letter, which struck her as a bit odd, since he had access to a computer and could easily have typed it. Unfolding the paper, she began to read.

_Kotonami-san,_

_I've already apologized for my own lack of tact at our last lunch, so I won't rehash that. I will apologize, however, for avoiding you. It was more out of embarrassment over my own actions than any offense over yours. In honesty, your straightforwardness is admirable. It's also admirable that you were able to admit that I had made a valid point. Tact, like all else, is something learned through experience. It sounds rather cliche, and perhaps being a manager I shouldn't draw such analogies, but tact is like acting, I suppose. Maybe not, but it seems similar to me. This letter isn't to talk about that though, still, if you want to, I would be glad to have the conversation another time._

_I also apologize for leaving you to dine with Ren and Kyoko-chan. I imagine it might be awkward since I have made you aware of my efforts to bring them together. Of course, smart as you are, you wouldn't need me to tell you anything about that situation._

_My final apology is for worrying people. I should have thought of how my actions would affect others. I didn't mean to worry Ren, Kyoko-chan, or you, Kotonami-san. I greatly appreciate the thought put into your gifts. I do like dogs, so it was nice seeing that you took the time to consider that. The clock was cute, and your explanation for your choice made it all the more so. So thank you._

_I would enjoy going to lunch with you again, and would be glad to pay. Even if Ren and Kyoko-chan don't take the opportunity to spend time alone together, it would be nice to have a meal with a friend other than Ren once and awhile. Besides, it would give me the chance to make up for last time, and show my gratitude. Also, it would provide a chance to discuss my theory on tact, if you want. If you have any suggestions for somewhere to eat, feel free to voice them. If not, just let me know what you look for in a restaurant. I'm sure I can find someplace._

_Yashiro-san (aka: Glasses-kun)_

Kanae stared at the letter as she finished reading it. There was something about the way he had worded it, sprinkling it generously with compliments, calling her admirable not once but twice for instance, that made her feel a strange fluttering sensation. It was almost as though he were attempting to be flirtatious in the way he had written to her. He made a point of offering a future conversation topic along with his compliments, and stating that they could have lunch together even when it wasn't part of a ploy to get Kyoko and Ren together. But at the same time, he'd made sure to call her a friend, and offer legitimate explanations for not needing Ren and Kyoko as an excuse to dine together. Then, he'd made a point of signing not only with his surname, but with the nickname she had given him. What did he really want? She was getting slightly mixed signals from the letter.

* * *

Sitting behind his desk, Yashiro's gaze remained focused on the clock that had taken up residence near his rarely used computer, the canine caricature's tail wagging in the streaming sunlight. The manager was a ball of nerves, despite the reassurances of Ren, who had recently left the office.

The previous night the bespectacled man had taken the opportunity to write a reply to Kanae's apology note. He'd thought about approaching her in person, but he wasn't stupid and thus he realized that wouldn't be a good idea. If she'd been uncomfortable enough to flee his office at the idea of him reading her note while she was present, then she certainly wouldn't want to actually talk about it. Writing the letter, though, may have been an equally poor idea in hindsight.

It was ridiculously easy to become overly confident when writing, he now realized. He'd put things down in that letter and sealed them in the envelope without a second thought, only noticing how they might be construed after the message had already been slipped under the LoveMe section's door the next morning. He might have tried to get it back, but he knew Kyoko was already in there. He was comfortable enough with the fact that his charge's crush wouldn't open a letter addressed to her friend, but what he dreaded was Kanae's reaction to the letter upon receiving it. Things had gone from friendly to semi-flirtatious, and he hadn't noticed it until he was replaying the message in his head after it was too late.

Now, Yashiro couldn't help but tick through the things he'd said that could be read as attempts to flirt. He'd called her admirable twice, smart once, mentioned that her explanation of the clock made it more cute (which essentially amounted to calling her cute,) and had offered to pay for a meal at a restaurant of her choice even without the motivation of setting Ren and Kyoko up. On top of that, he had suggested a topic for future conversation in an attempt to encourage contact between them. If she were as oblivious as Kyoko seemed to be, it might not matter. Kanae was much more shrewd than her fellow LoveMe member, though. She was bound to notice his efforts.

He gulped nervously, wondering if she would hate him for such a thing. Maybe she would choose to just ignore his foolishness? He was pretty sure he could handle that, maybe. It wasn't the same as being rejected, after all. If she went along with a friendship but didn't acknowledge his attempts at anything more for now, he would be fine with it.

Now that he thought about it again, he'd also made sure that what he'd written could be interpreted as friendly, right? He'd even made a point of calling her a friend. So, he really wasn't trying to rush things too much. Everything was going to be alright. With a sigh of relief, he smiled to himself, seemingly mesmerized by the steady wagging of the dog clock's tail.

* * *

Ren couldn't help smiling slightly to himself at his manager's worries. It was a bit of karma, honestly, if one believed in such things. The meddlesome man was getting a taste of what it was like to be in love with someone that you couldn't reasonably expect to have a relationship with. Maybe now Yashiro would understand that it wasn't as easy as he thought for Ren to just confess his feelings to Kyoko. Afterall, LoveMe number one was like a wounded animal, and if he tried to get close to her, she would run away. It was best to proceed slowly.

His focus shifted from musing on Yashiro's misfortunes to dwelling on his own feelings for Kyoko as he wandered the halls of LME. It wasn't as though he had a particular destination in mind, the star just felt like stretching his legs by roaming the corridors. And as fate would have it, a certain bend in the hall brought him to a girl with orange hair sitting crosslegged on the floor, her script resting in the space between her knees, a look of concentration on her face.

He watched in silence a few moments, admiring her determination to do well in her role. Was she studying for her part as Mio, or Natsu? Well, she should have Mio pretty well down by now, so it was more likely the Box "R" character. Finally Ren approached, a smile on his face as he drew near, the rising starlett never noticing until he called out to her, "Mogami-san, how are you?"

Startled out of her intense focus, Kyoko jumped slightly, the script pages shuffling shut in her lap, "Tsuruga-san! I didn't see you there!"

"I noticed," He replied, still smiling a warm, genuine smile that made her grudges run for cover, "Are you studying your role for Box 'R'?"

"Hai," She returned his smile with a nod, "I still wish I didn't have to play the bully, but Naachan is an interesting character, so I guess in the end, I'm really glad I accepted the role!"

"That's good," Ren moved to sit beside her, his position slightly more awkward because of his longer legs as he leaned against the wall with one leg bent in front of him and the other crossed beneath it, "You can't be picky when just starting out, but you still have to be able to enjoy something about every role you play...even if it's just being able to make them your own. Keep up the good work, and you'll be playing a princess before you know it."

Kyoko blinked at him, blushing slightly at his praise, and the oddly specific casting choice he had made for her. Of course, she would love nothing more than to be a princess in a fantasy movie, but it seemed strange to hear him say it, "That would be wonderful! I'm still not sure how all these bully roles will get me there though."

"Just be patient," He assured her reaching over and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, trying to be the most sempai-like man he could manage, "I'm sure someone will see beyond your current roles."

Seeing the confidence her mentor held in her, the young actress beamed up at him with gratitude, "Arigato, Tsuruga-san! Coming from an accomplished actor like you, that means a lot! I'm not sure I can live up to such expectations though!"

"You need to have more faith in yourself, Mogami-san," The older man insisted, resisting the urge to give an agitated sigh, though he was unable to keep his smile from slipping into one of its more gentlemanly forms.

"It's easy for you to be confident," The younger talent sulked slightly, sighing, "You're Japan's number one actor! I'm just...me."

"There is no 'just you,'" Ren's smile was drifting further into the gentlemanly spectrum, "You have talent, or you wouldn't have gotten as far as you have. You fall completely into character, you give off a professional demeanor, Mogami-san, you have an instinct for acting."

Though she was happy about his praise, Kyoko couldn't hide the lingering doubt as she gazed at the floor. Maybe she was talented, but she was still plain. She wasn't the glamorous sort that became a star.

Looking at her, her sempai was able to read the sense of self deprecation on her features, "If you give up now, then you really aren't the quality of actress I thought you were. You'll never reach stardom unless you think you can…"

Golden eyes met brown as the kouhai considered her mentor's words. She wanted to beat Sho at his own game, and she couldn't do it if she didn't believe in herself, "Of course, Tsuruga-san! You're absolutely right. With the help of makeup artists and costume designers, even I can become a star! I have the talent, or I wouldn't have made it as far as this!"

Ren slumped in mild defeat. She'd missed his point entirely. She was supposed to have confidence in all of herself, not only her abilities as an actress. This was a start, though, and maybe he could take the risk of trying to boost her confidence with a more direct compliment. She was just dense enough that she might not realize such words came from his attraction to her.

"You know, Mogami-san…" He began, hesitating slightly as she turned to look at him expectantly. He really hoped he wasn't pushing the line too far with his next comment, "You don't need to rely on the makeup and costumes…"

"Hmm?" Kyoko blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant by that. Of course she needed to depend on the crew of whatever project she was working on! That was a part of the job, "But, Tsuruga-san...they're the ones who make me look the part...it's their job."

"That's not…" He sighed as she once more missed what he had been trying to say. The statement he'd made had nothing to do with work! It was a general compliment, "What I mean is, even outside of the character's you play...you really are quite bea-"

"You!" The attempt at a compliment was interrupted by a person neither of them had seen approaching. Kyoko was instantly on her feet, script forgotten on the floor as she attempted to pounce her best friend. Kanae simply stepped neatly out of range and continued to point and glare at Ren.

The seasoned actor gave a groan of defeat at the timing of the second LoveMe member's arrival, his hand sweeping over his face in frustration as he plastered on his most gentlemanly of smiles, "Kotonami-san, what can I help you with?"

LoveMe Number One was watching from where she had landed behind Moko, lip quivering. She wasn't sure whether to be more upset over the fact that her best friend was ignoring her, or the fact that Kanae seemed to be trying to steal the attention of her sempai!

There was a moment of silence as the older girl shifted uneasily, the envelope grasped in her hand crinkling as her grip tightened on it. Ren could see the tint of red staining her cheeks from his position on the floor in front of her, but Kyoko was left clueless as to the reason for her discomfort. The senior agency member had to fight to keep his gentlemanly smile from turning to a smirk as he waited for her reply. After what seemed far too long between words, the teen finally snapped at him, "Mo! Just tell me if Glasses-kun is in his office!"

"He was when I left," Ren replied easily, which was met with a huff from Kanae as the girl instantly stormed off in the direction of the manager's office.

"Waaaah!" Kyoko suddenly wailed as her best friend disappeared down the hall, earning a concerned look from her sempai, "Moko-san didn't even say hi to me!"

Ren had to cough to keep himself from laughing at the poor talento's expense, a habit he seemed to be developing lately. She was too cute sometimes, though! Lowering the hand he had used to hide his mouth, he regarded the girl he loved with a gentle gaze, "I'm sure it was nothing personal, Mogami-san. It seems as though Kotonami-san had a lot on her mind."

* * *

Once she had actually reached the door that bore the manager's name, Kanae froze in mid-action, her hand stretched halfway between herself, and the closed door. She wasn't sure she could do this. She wanted to see him now. Writing letters back and forth was a perfectly ridiculous way for two professional adults...or friends as he had put it...to communicate. She was nervous though. What if he really had been trying to flirt through what he had written? Would he be bold enough to come onto her in person? And how would she react if he did? A blush crept over her features as she contemplated such notions.

Well, standing out in the hallway debating herself over the issue wasn't going to solve anything. And the last time she had hesitated to follow through with what she had planned, this very same door had smacked her in the head! She certainly wasn't going to risk that happening again. So, she drew a deep breath, steeling her nerve, and rapped her knuckles firmly on the door.

From the other side she heard a shuffling of papers and a few moments of silence followed by a cheery, "Come in!"

* * *

Yashiro must have been lost in daydreams again, because when the knock at his door caused him to refocus on the digital display of the shiba inu clock, he found that he'd somehow lost a good half an hour somewhere along the line. This time, his mind hadn't been imagining a future of happiness for Ren and Kyoko, but rather playing out possible reactions to the letter he had left in the LoveMe locker room.

Thinking that whoever was in the hall must have been there for business reasons, he tried to make things look like he had actually been attending to business matters all morning. The manager shuffled through some papers, spreading a few out over his desk as though he had been looking over them. When he was satisfied that the office gave off the appearance of a work environment, he cheerily called out, "Come in!"

It took a moment, then two and by the time the door gradually opened Yashiro was beginning to wonder if he'd imagined the knocking sound. But slowly the door pulled back into the hallway, revealing the subject of his earlier daydreams. Yashiro blinked behind his glasses a couple times before standing and moving around his desk to meet her just inside the office, "Kotonami-san, I wasn't expecting you...it's a pleasant surprise though…"

He would have kept babbling, but he literally bit his tongue to keep himself from seeming like an idiot, then proceeded to change topics slightly before allowing himself to talk once more, "Have a seat...would you like a drink?"

Kanae's eyes shifted from the chairs he had gestured to upon offering her a seat, to the fridge she remembered from their last encounter. Her heart was pounding, but it seemed like the man who greeted her had calmed down a lot since her last trip to the office. She made her way to the cushioned chair nearest the front of his desk and sat, crossing her legs neatly as she replied in an offhanded tone, "No. I'm not thirsty."

As soon as the teenaged talento moved toward the chairs, Yashiro pulled the door closed. He was surprised at how little he was rambling, actually. Normally he was a complete wreck in her presence, and even now his heart thudded against his chest, but somehow through sheer force of will he was able to keep from making an idiot of himself. When she declined the offer of a drink, he moved around to his own seat with a nod, "Alright...umm...what brings you here?"

Not having a ready answer for that, Kanae let her eyes wander the contents of the managers desk to buy herself some time. There was a mild sense of surprise when they landed upon the clock she had given him, "You're keeping it here?"

"Excuse me?" Behind his glasses the man blinked in genuine confusion. He didn't think her words quite went with the question he'd asked her.

"The clock," She elaborated as though it should have been obvious, punctuating the statement with a roll of her eyes and a gesture to the shiba inu figurine on the desk, "Why would you keep it out in the open like that?"

"It's cute…" Yashiro shrugged, blushing slightly. He realized it was an embarrassing thing for a man in his mid-twenties to have on his desk at work, but he liked the thought of keeping it there. It reminded him of Kanae, and he didn't want to hide a gift from her as though he was ashamed of it, "Besides, why shouldn't I show off a gift from a friend?"

He'd called her a friend again, she noticed, so maybe he hadn't really been trying to flirt with the letter after all. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed at that, "I suppose that makes sense."

"You didn't come here just to ask about the clock though, did you?" He was genuinely curious, and hoped that she had come in response to his letter. His pulse increased as he waited for her to answer.

"Mo! Of course not!" She snapped at the ridiculous notion that she had come to his office merely to investigate whether he had kept his clock on his desk. Of course, she instantly knew the next question would be one of the real reason for her visit, "I...I came to say that...the letter writing is stupid. We're adults, so we should speak directly!"

Yashiro had somewhat expected the harsh reaction to his question. The comment that followed caused a whirlwind of emotion to surge through him, leaving his face momentarily blank as his mind tried to determine which feeling should be displayed. The letters were stupid...so she hadn't wanted him to write back? Oh, but she wanted to communicate directly, so she'd rather speak in person! That was good! He wanted to grin at the fact that she had actually come to discuss the letters in a positive light...well...sort of. Then there was the confusion that passed through him at her phrasing 'we're adults.' Was she trying to hint that she didn't want to be viewed as a child? Not that he saw her that way anyhow.

When he finally noticed her giving him a look of agitation and concern, he realized his face had fallen expressionless. That wouldn't do at all! It was totally out of character, for one thing, and inappropriate for the situation for another! So, he smiled in an agreeable manner, though he couldn't keep a hint of admiration from slipping into the arrangement on his features, "You're absolutely right, Kotonami-san."

Satisfied now with his response, she let her own features be schooled back into her cool mask of relative indifference. Kanae offered a nod, "Of course I'm right. And, Glasses-kun, don't you dare take me to eat anywhere that ruins my diet!"

"Diet?" Yashiro blinked and gave a look of genuine surprise. He knew she was health conscious, but he hadn't realized she was actively dieting. He was so taken aback by the revelation that it didn't even occur to him to get excited about the implications of her statement that he would be taking her to eat.

"Mo! Yes, diet!" The talento flipped her hair over her shoulder and folded her arms across her chest with a huff, "If you want something, you have to work at it!"

"I suppose," The manager began, still staring in shock, "But Kotonami-san, don't women diet to lose weight? You already look wonderful...so why would you need to lose weight?"

Kanae opened her mouth to speak, then stopped as she realized what had been slipped in amongst the questions. He'd told her she looked wonderful. Of course, she'd heard it often enough before...so why did it seem so different coming from him? Her cheeks heated slightly as the uncertainty turned to irritation, "I have to maintain my weight, Glasses-kun! If I don't eat right, I'll start to gain weight! Baka!"

"Ah…" Yashiro nodded slowly as he tried to understand, though a frown creased his brow beneath his glasses, "I think you might be using the wrong word in that case, but it doesn't really matter. I know what you mean."

Rolling her eyes once more, the LoveMe member stood and headed for the door, "We'll have to decide when we're going to do lunch. I know that you're busy with Tsuruga-san's schedule, and I have my own things going on, but I'll squeeze you in sometime when you're free."

With that, Kanae had left the room. Her parting words had let him know that he hadn't lost his chance to take her out again, as friends for now, even if he had perhaps said the wrong thing on the diet issue. He didn't think he'd said anything insulting...had he? In fact he'd told her she looked...wonderful. Oh. Well, it was safe enough to panic now that she was gone, so he did.

Yashiro's mind raced a mile a minute with thoughts of how she might interpret the words he'd used. He really hadn't been trying to flirt, he'd only been giving his honest opinion on the matter! But she still wanted to go to lunch with him, so that was a good sign, right? He sighed, resigning himself to hope for the best.


	8. White Day Challenge

**A/N:** And it's time once again for another update, yay! Still haven't read beyond volume 24, gomen! On the bright side, I have the next omnibus on preorder, and it will be arriving sometime in the first couple weeks of November. Huzzah! That means I get the next three volumes to read. Teehee! We'll see how that affects the course of the story I'm writing. After some consideration, I have decided the timeline for this fic has finally allowed for a grand opportunity, which is one I had planned to include from the beginning, an opportunity that only became more exciting to me as it was melded with suggestions from those who reviewed. Buwahah! Also, to keep from giving another uber long chapter, and because I'm tired and want to get this up tonight, I'm afraid there's not much Ren/Kyoko in this chapter. I've decided to try and do a mostly Ren/Kyoko specific chapter next time to make up for it though. Given the way this chapter went, it lends itself to such a thing. So without further ado, the chapter I've been anticipating for so long!

**Translation Note:** Okay, so I know many of you probably already know this, but for clarity sake, I'm going to offer a brief explanation. In Japanese the pronunciation of certain words can differ very slightly (such as how long you hold a vowel sound) but change the meaning of the word entirely. When such words are written in Romanji (using the English alphabet) these slight differences in vowel length can be shown by doubling the vowel. Why do I mention that? Because Hiou shows up in this chapter, and he can be a brat. So you need to recognize the difference between Oji-san and Ojii-san. The first means uncle, the second means grandpa. Jii-san is pretty much equal to calling someone Gramps. That was much less brief than I thought it would be...

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

* * *

**Chapter 8: White Day Challenge**

* * *

It had been only a couple weeks since the conversation between Kanae and Yashiro in the manager's office. Since then, things had gone on as they usually did for the pair of LME employees. Yashiro was most often seen trailing Ren around the building and to his shoots. When he wasn't doing that, he could sometimes be found in his office, reviewing new jobs that had been offered to the star, sorting those that he knew his charge would most definitely be uninterested in from the ones that actually stood a chance of capturing the actor's attention. Kanae would go about her business as well, doing LoveMe assignments in between her acting jobs.

Despite friendly greetings upon seeing each other in the halls occasionally, or once and a while eating in the cafeteria with Ren and Kyoko, they didn't see much of each other. The opportunity to have lunch alone again hadn't arisen, either. Frankly, Yashiro was feeling a bit worried that any interest the talento might have had in him would be wiped away by so little time spent together. Especially since a beauty like Kanae probably had costars and other attractive men asking her out all the time.

It was with this in mind that Yashiro made a firm resolution, promising himself that no matter how nervous it made him, he would not back down. Trying to ease the butterflies the notion left in his stomach, he had urged Ren to make a similar resolution involving Kyoko, but the handsome actor had refused on the grounds that following through on such a plan would only serve to make the orange haired girl feel uncomfortable and guilty, and he didn't want either of those thing. So, after whining a bit to try to get his way and finally calling the actor a spoil sport, the manager had set off to accomplish his mission on his own.

Finding what he needed was more difficult than he had thought it might be. Perhaps he should have done some research first, but that was a bit risky. He couldn't tip anyone else off to the true purpose of what he was doing, and he was nervous enough without having to repeat his cover story to multiple people. After much searching, he had succeeded in part one of his plan, but that was probably the easiest portion.

As he sat at his desk staring at the small gift bag in front of him, a soft lavender in color, he couldn't help but think that selecting its contents had been simple compared to what was ahead. In his mind he rehearsed his cover story for the thousandth time that day, sighing softly and closing his eyes.

"You've gotten this far, you are going to give it to her, right?" Ren smirked from his seat in front of the desk, watching his fretting manager with a mildly amused expression. This was another part of why the actor had not joined the scheme. With no actual innocuous reason to give Kyoko a gift, he knew he would be nervous doing so. The advantage he had over Yashiro was the skill he possessed as an actor, "She should still be in the LoveMe room...but she won't be there all day. The President is sure to have work for the girls on a day like this one."

"I know, I know…" Yashiro murmured with a slight groan, running his hand through his hair in a way that he wouldn't usually do, "I just don't want to mess this up. I don't what Kotonami-san to get the wrong idea...or...well, it would technically be the right idea, but I don't think she needs to know that just yet…"

"Then why did you even bother?" Ren arched a brow at his friend, still wearing that slightly amused expression, "This is why I didn't want to go along with your plan...Mogami-san, even as naive as she can be, would know what getting a gift today would mean. At least you have something of an excuse, since Kotonami-san recently gave you a present and you can say you're merely returning the gesture. What would I say?"

With the actor's reminder of Yashiro's cover story, and the questioning of his purpose, the manager sighed once more, staring hard at the package as if challenging it. With a final nod of determination, the bespectacled man reached out to grip the small bag by the handles, and stood up, "You're right, Ren. I do have a reason besides the obvious. And...a little white lie won't hurt, will it?"

"You'll still have to tell her the truth sometime…" The actor commented with a shrug.

"I will...perhaps when you decide to tell Kyoko-chan the truth about how you feel." At this challenge, and the look of irked surprise it earned from Ren, Yashiro felt a bit of his confidence restored, and grinned cheekily at his friend, "Well, wish me luck! Hopefully she's still in the LoveMe room when I get there!"

"Good luck, Yashiro." Ren gave his friend a small salute as the shorter man quickly left the room, determined to get the gift delivered before he lost his nerve again. Seeing the rapid pace the manager set, the younger man smirked and shook his head, "You're going to need it…"

* * *

Never hearing his charge's last quip, Yashiro set a brisk pace along the corridor, stopped of course by the fact that he would have to wait for the elevator. He pushed the button, gripping the handle of the bag a bit tighter as his gaze lingered on the lights that displayed which floor the lift was currently on. Fortunately, it hadn't been too far away, and quite shortly the ding of its arrival sounded as the doors whooshed open. Hurriedly the manager stepped and selected the floor of his destination.

Once more the elevator whirred to life, carrying him to the specified level and whooshing open once more so that he could depart. As he did so, he nearly collided with someone getting out of the next elevator over. In his focus on keeping his nerve, he must have not been paying attention to where he was going, though after glancing for the person he had nearly bowled over, he found the reason he had missed seeing them in the first place was that said individual was shorter than himself.

"Hey!" The child actor snapped as he glared up at the glasses wearing jerk who he had dodged a moment earlier, "Watch it, baka!"

"Ah, gomen." Yashiro offered a small bow along with his apology to the person he recognized a the child star known as Uesugi Hiou, "I was in a bit of a hurry, and wasn't paying attention."

"Clearly," Hiou replied with a roll of his eyes before noticing the small lavender bag in the manager's hand. The child star's eyes narrowed slightly as he gripped his own red wrapped box more tightly. He knew the LoveMe room was on this floor, and that was where he was going. Now, he couldn't help but wonder where the idiot with glasses was on his way to. It shouldn't matter though. The odds of it being the same place were slim. Besides, there were two other members in that group with Kanae, right?

After a moment of awkward silence, during which Yashiro was observant enough to see Hiou practically glaring at the small bag he was carrying, and notice that the boy had a package as well, the manager cleared his throat, "Anyway, I should probably continue, since I am in a hurry after all."

"Right," Hiou turned his gaze up at the manager with a smug smirk, "Just try not to run anyone over this time."

"Of course." Being a manager, Yashiro knew how to smile through tense conversation with rude actors. It wouldn't do to start fights with potential costars for Ren, after all.

Conversation concluded, the bespectacled man resumed his walk through LME towards the LoveMe room. Unfortunately, he couldn't help but notice, Hiou's path took him the same way. Running through the entertainment news that he managed to keep filed in his head (which was a limited amount, of course) he recalled recently learning that the drama Kanae was in also featured the child actor. Which meant the boy was probably going to present the beautiful talento with a gift as well. Not that that should be any cause for concern. Uesugi was only a child, there was no way that Kanae would consider romantic feelings for a boy six years younger than her.

Hiou shot Yashiro a sideways glance as the manager seemed to suddenly freeze upon realizing that that was actually less of an age gap than the one between himself and Kanae. With a brow raised in question, the child actor turned to face the older male, "Oi, what's up with you?"

Snapping himself out of this sudden shock, Yashiro shook his head and put on a smile, reassuring himself with the thought that there was a much greater difference in maturity levels between Hiou and Kanae, than between the talento and himself. The LoveMe member had specifically stated she wanted someone mature, after all, "Nothing. So, I take you are going to see Kotonami-san?"

"Yeah, what of it?" The young actor grumbled, his eyes holding a certain amount of suspicion. as he began to walk down the hall, not waiting for the manager, which didn't really matter as Yashiro was able to catch up quickly enough.

"Oh, I was just curious." The man offered a smile to the child, "It's nice to see she is making friends with her coworkers."

"You gonna give that to her?" The boy gestured to the bag that the manager was carrying. Trying to remain calm and casual, Yashiro responded with a nod while trying to control his blush. Hiou greeted this effort with a derisive snort, "Good luck, Jii-san."

The comment was met with a surprised blink, and a narrowing of eyes behind the manager's glasses. Surely he had misunderstood what the young actor was saying, because Yashiro was barely old enough to be the kid's father, and had just been referred to as grandfather for some reason. Trying to keep a balanced and polite tone he tried to clarify, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Jii-san. But I don't think an old man like you should get your hopes up." Hiou shrugged as Yashiro fought the very tempting urge to actually strike a child, not something the bespectacled man would really do.

"I think you're overestimating my age, Hiou-chan." Though he tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, the manager couldn't completely keep the agitation from the tone, "And I think you may have the wrong idea about Kotonami-san and myself…"

It was impossible to miss the irritation on the young star's face at being addressed with a honorific usual reserved for girls and children. If the man thought this would stop Hiou from commenting on his age, then he was sadly mistaken. Not bothering to respond to being called -chan, or to the remark Yashiro made regarding being called Jii-san, a determined child actor smirked and continued on the same track, "Really, Jii-san? I'm pretty sure I've got it figured out. You were in a hurry to get your gift to Kanae, right? That's why you almost trampled me. So you must really like her…"

"I…" Yashiro tried to think up some argument against the brat's logic as his earlier words were turned against him. He _had_ told the child that he was in a rush, and admitted that he was going to give a gift to Kanae, therefore, he could hardly deny the facts behind the boy's theory. He also didn't miss the fact that Hiou was bold enough to call her by her given name without benefit of honorifics...well, at least when she wasn't around.

Sensing the manager's hesitation, and thinking he detected a slight hue of pink upon the man's features, Hiou pressed on, "I thought so...like I said though, an old man shouldn't get his hopes up."

Twitching behind his glasses, Yashiro decided to act more like the adult he was and simply not acknowledge the continued taunts about his feelings for the talento. That was the plan, anyway, what was actually said didn't seem to listen to his decision, "Ah, and what about you, Hiou-chan?"

"What about me?" The boy huffed in agitation, not sure what to make of the sudden change in topic. Making fun of his apparent rival had been fun, and he hated having his fun interrupted. Logic told him that the tables were about to be turned, but he wasn't too worried. This man couldn't be very good at turning them.

"Well, I'm sure Kotonami-san will appreciate your gift, it is a great compliment that you see her as an onee-san." A smile spread over Yashiro's features as he threw in a jab of his own, "For someone who's been in the business as long as you have to view her with such respect already, I'm sure she'll be thrilled!"

"A-an onee-san?" Hiou blinked and blushed, torn between rage and embarrassment. Of course he didn't see Kanae as a big sister! This guy, he needed to stop treating a veteran actor like him as a child! It was humiliating, and that just fed his anger. Of course, he couldn't blurt out his true feelings for Kanae either, that...that would be just as bad, "Don't be stupid, Jii-san! I'm just giving her something to thank her for the chocolate she gave me on valentines!"

At that, the boy whipped his head aside, hoping to hide his still growing blush. He didn't miss the falter in Yashiro's steps, or the fall of the older man's previously smug features. If there had been any doubt that this guy liked Kanae, it was wiped away by his obvious negative reaction to the fact that she had given Hiou chocolate when he, obviously, hadn't gotten any, "What, didn't she give you any, Jii-san?"

"No…" Yashiro murmured before pulling himself together and schooling his expression into a warm smile, "But it's fine, I hadn't expected any. I'm just giving her something to thank her for a present she gave me a couple weeks ago, today seemed a reasonable occasion for gift giving."

The child star's gaze narrowed on the bespectacled man. What had happened to warrant this man getting a present from Kanae? There had been no special occasion two weeks ago, and as far as he knew she didn't associate with many people in LME outside of the small LoveMe section. So why had this idiot gotten a gift on a seemingly random day? Hious huffed and turned away, muttering under his breath, "Don't get cocky just because you got some random gift."

The manager didn't bother to comment any further, because at that point, they had reached their destination. He lifted a hand to knock at the door, but was beaten to it by the boy at his side. It was Kyoko who called out in cautious greeting, "Who is it?"

"Hiou" The boy responded simply enough, though that single word was likely lost as it mixed with a more polite reply from the man beside him.

"Hello, Kyoko-chan, it's Yashiro." The door opened a crack and a golden eye peeked out to confirm it wasn't some sort of trick. Of course, Yashiro was easily recognized as he waved at the talento, and after a few moments, she recognized Hiou as Kanae's costar. When the door was pushed open the rest of the way, the manager continued politely, "Worried about stalkers and singers?"

Hiou sulked and rolled his eyes impatiently at the exchange, just wanting to get his gift handed over to Kanae already. He could see her standing behind the orange haired twit, so he decided to just push the girl aside and make his way to his actual goal instead of watching Kyoko sulk and scowl at Yashiro's words.

"Yes...I will not let them find me!" She shuddered as she remembered the events of a month ago, definitely not wanting to have to deal with either Shou or Beagle again. With a blink the rising talent stumbled sideways suddenly as she was caught by surprise by an impatient child actor shoving past her and into the room.

"Umm…" Yashiro steadied his friend before glancing nervously at Hiou, who was scowling at Kanae (whose attention had been drawn by the commotion at the door) and holding out the red wrapped box to her, "I hope you don't have any trouble, Kyoko-chan, but...I actually came to see Kotonami-san, I'm afraid."

"Mo!" Kanae was hesitantly reaching for the gift that had been silently offered by her costar, "What's this for, Hiou-kun?"

"What do you think?" Hiou frowned and rolled his eyes, "It's White Day. You gave me Valentines Chocolates, right? So I'm supposed to give you something to…"

As Kyoko gave a smile and a nod, stepping aside to let the manager into the room, Kanae was already starting to slowly remove the box's wrapping. Yashiro looked from Hiou to Kanae, trying to get a sense of their relationship from the way they interacted. He couldn't imagine the LoveMe member as viewing the child star as anything more than a brother. From her spot by the door, Kyoko could feel her grudges swirl to life. This time it wasn't in reaction to delicious anger, but a dark sense of foreboding that seemed to fill the area. Somehow, even a simple girl like her could tell things were about to get uncomfortable.

"Ah...gomen," Kyoko smiled at the small gathering as she inched out of the room, "I should...uh...go and do...something…"

All three of the others blinked at her feeble attempt to excuse herself, but it was Yashiro who smiled and spoke, "Ah, alright, Kyoko-chan...oh, if you need Ren, he was in my office when I last saw him!"

Kyoko blinked at the man, unsure of what to make of Yashiro's announcement. Why would he think she'd need Ren for anything? Surely her sempai had more important things to do than spend time with her! Still, not wanting to be rude, she cast him a smile, "I'll keep that in mind, um...bye then!"

When the first LoveMe member had departed, the awkward gathering between the rest of the room's occupants was able to continue. Silently, Kanae cursed her best friend for leaving her alone in such a tense atmosphere. But the distraction Kyoko had momentarily granted was gone now, and so the second LoveMe member was forced to recall that she had been in the middle of opening the gift from the boy in front of her. After shifting a nervous glance between the manager and the child actor, the talento resumed peeling the red wrappings away, revealing the item inside to be a box of rather gourmet foreign chocolates.

While she wasn't pleased with the calories contained within, she wasn't going to shove the gift back at the boy who had gone out of his way to return the act of kindness she'd given to him on Valentines day. That didn't mean she had to be all sappy about it though, "Mo! Chocolate? I guess I can eat them, since they're from you. But honestly, you shouldn't have given me anything!"

Yashiro watched the interaction, not missing the smug glance cast his way by the boy which seemed to challenge him to do better with his own gift. Honestly, the bespectacled man was a bit confused by the scene. If he knew Kanae from their earlier encounters, then he knew she didn't like unhealthy things. And though chocolate wasn't particularly unhealthy, she did seem the sort that would count calories. Yet she'd made a point of saying she would eat them, if only because Hiou had given them to her. The harsh delivery of her reply didn't factor in, since she was always trying to distance herself from showing her real emotions, but it did leave him puzzled as to whether she felt any genuine affection for his young rival.

"Glasses-kun?" Kanae arched a brow at the manager as she set the box of chocolates aside and turned to face him, Hiou meanwhile taking the opportunity to find a seat at the talento's side.

"Hmm?" Yashiro blinked and snapped out of thoughts, looking at her in return, and unable to help but notice the continued cockiness shown by the child who sat near her. Without a verbal reply, Kanae proceeded to answer with an exasperated look that told him he shouldn't be there if he was wasting her time. Quickly reminding himself of his purpose for being in the room to begin with, the manager held out the small bag in his grip, "Ah, right! Kotonami-san, I thought you might like this...just as a way of thanking you for your gift earlier!"

The talento watched with mild curiosity and slight worry as the bag was thrust in her direction. Her heart sped up for some unknown reason as she wonder what on earth the man was thinking getting her a White Day gift! It wasn't like she'd gotten him anything for Valentine's! His tacked on explanation took a moment to clear her confusion, though when she remembered the apology gift she had given, she finally reached out to accept the lavender gift bag, "You didn't have to. That gift served its purpose and wasn't meant to be returned."

"Oh...well…" As Yashiro waited for her to begin opening his present, he noticed Hiou's nervous look from the corner of his eye. Maybe it hadn't been just his imagination, then, that Kanae had sounded almost gentle in her usually gruff response, that she had shown the slightest hint of a small smile, "Perhaps it wasn't _meant_ to be returned, but that doesn't mean it can't be...and...you put so much thought into it, even if you didn't admit to it, that I wanted to show my appreciation."

The elder LoveMe girl couldn't help but flush slightly at his insistance that she must have put some sort of thought into his gift. Because really, the fact that she had taken time to ask Kyoko specifically what he might like, and then spent at least two hours looking for that stupid clock, didn't mean she put extra effort in or anything! Neither of her admirers missed that pink tinting of her cheeks, filling one with a small amount of hope, and the other with a slight measure of concern as she slowly began to fiddle with the tissue paper that lined the lavender bag to keep the present hidden from sight. Slowly she pulled aside the paper, eyes widening at what was revealed, "Glasses-kun, you absolutely shouldn't have! There's no way I can-"

"Y-you don't like it?" He questioned with a small amount of insecurity, focused solely on the young woman now and completely missing Hiou's attempts to catch a glimpse of the bag's contents, "I know I didn't put as much effort into finding out specifically what you liked, but I really thought it suited you…"

"Baka!" Kanae growled at the older man, not sure how to express how much she absolutely adored the item hidden with the package without seeming completely vulnerable. It was perfect, and definitely much nicer than what she had gotten him for a silly little gift, "This is...I did _not_ put that much thought into your dumb gift, so I won't take this one!"

Frowning as the talento tried to hand the bag back to him, Yashiro held out a hand to push hers away, "I want you to take it."

"She said she's not going to, though!" Hiou grinned as he looked at the manager with triumph written on his features. Kanae had accepted his chocolates, and was rejecting whatever was in the stupid glasses guy's bag!

Nodding in agreement to her costar's insistence, Kanae tried once more to get the bespectacled man to take back his gift. Yashiro sighed, and seemingly gave in, collecting the bag in his grasp, much to the talento's relief. That relief only lasted a moment, however, for when the bag was once more in his hands, the manager reached inside and withdrew the item inside.

The bracelet dangled from his fingers, sapphires studded around it's circumference. Hiou's cocky grin faded immediately as he saw it, his gaze shifting to Kanae as she blushed at the gift being revealed. Taking a deep breath, Yashiro prepared himself to be a bit more bold than usual as he stepped forward, holding out a hand to indicate he wanted the LoveMe member to place hers within it, "You should at least see how it looks on your wrist before saying no."

Hiou narrowed his gaze as Kanae slowly let her hand move into his palm. Yashiro cast her what he hoped would be a reassuring smile, moving his hand away, but only because he needed both to properly fasten the bracelet around her wrist. Once he had secured the item in place, he returned his hand to hers, lifting her arm slightly so that she could get a good look at the jewelry, "Well, I think it looks nice anyway…"

"It's dumb looking," Hiou mumbled, though his two cents were somehow lost amidst the swirl of emotions in Kanae's mind.

The talento felt a swarm of butterflies spring to life as her hand tingled in the manager's grip. She couldn't help but want the strange warmth to return as he moved his hand away, only to feel the tingles brush lightly over her wrist as he fastened the bracelet into place then return to her fingers full force as he gently moved his own back into their original position, lifting her arm so she could clearly see the shimmering blue stones. The gift was beautiful, and she really wanted it. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and thank him with a strong embrace. But that wouldn't be Kanae, that would be such a...a _Kyoko_ thing to do. Fluffy warm feelings weren't part of Number Two. And she wouldn't let them suddenly become a part of her, "It is..._nice_... but I still can't take it. Mo! It's not like a _manager _could actually afford something like this anyway!"

For a moment Hiou dared to feel hopeful again, well, until Yashiro actually laughed. The bespectacled man did a good job of keeping the spurt of chuckling soft and controlled so as to offend the now glaring talento as little as possible, "I appreciate the concern for my finances, Kotonami-san...but I wouldn't have bought it if it would break me. Being Tsuruga Ren's manager has it's perks...being paid more than some other managers is one of them."

Hiou twitched slightly at the revelation of just who his rival was, and why the stupid man had looked somewhat familiar. Everyone knew Tsuruga Ren. He was only the most famous actor in Japan, after all. And, in paparazzi photo's of the older actor, one figure often accompanied him, trying to block the camera's view. Yashiro Yukihito, that was the full name, wasn't it, of Tsuruga's manager?

"Even if you _can afford_ it...I shouldn't take it!" The talento insisted, "It's White Day, and taking gifts from men on White Day could easily be misunderstood as-"

Yashiro blinked, casting his gaze down and to the side, "I see. Well, I suppose it was a bit of an extravagant thank you…"

He was about to offer to take the bracelet back and leave when he noticed the victorious smirk on Hiou's features. It was distinctly irksome, and again Yashiro fought back the urge to actually hit the boy upside the head or something. Of course, he would never really strike a child, that would be a horrible thing to do! But, he was inspired to strike a particularly low blow before he managed to lose the nerve to do so, "I just hope no one misunderstands about the chocolates Hiou-chan gave you...Imported candy is extravagant too."

At that, both the talents felt their cheeks heat up. Hiou because he couldn't deny he had bought only the best for his crush, and Kanae because she Yashiro had a valid point, "They won't misunderstand Hiou-kun's gift! It's not the same as with you, Glasses-kun, you're an...an _older man_...and Hiou-kun...he...he's a...a boy! And, it's just not the same!"

At being called a boy and having the chance of his gift being misunderstood by people so easily brushed aside, Hiou's features fell. Yashiro instantly regretted his cruelty as he watched the child actor's heart break before him. But at least he'd had something confirmed...Hiou wasn't a real threat romantically.

"I better get going…I don't want to be late to any of my appointments..." The young star grumbled out, his gaze dropping to the ground as he turned and stalked toward the door, pausing as he passed Yashiro and murmuring lowly, "Well played, Jii-san…"

Kanae watched the child actor, easily able to tell that her words had hurt him. She would have to make it up to him somehow, but that could wait. After he had paused to speak to the manager, leaving the talento wondering what on earth had been said between the two, she was surprised to see him turn around again as he spoke confidently, and loudly directly to her, "Kanae! I might be just a 'boy' right now, but someday I'm gonna grow up! I'll make sure to be the kind of man you want!"

The words were as much of a challenge to Yashiro as a proclamation to Kanae, leaving manager and talento blushing in shock and embarrassment. Neither was sure what to say as the young actor bounded out of the room for real, leaving them alone together.

An awkward silence stretched between the pair as they shifted uneasily. It was finally broken by Yashiro, who cleared his throat nervously before speaking, "I know you've said repeatedly you don't want it...but I can tell you like the bracelet. You don't have to let anyone know where it came from, so why not keep it?"

"I…" Kanae was starting to wonder if she was misunderstanding the gift. He had continuously told her it was a thank you. But it was much more valuable that the clock she had given him, so she was certain it meant something more! And she couldn't accept a gift like that. Not from him, not from a man who she might actually...no! It just couldn't happen, "It's too much. All I gave you was that stupid clock…"

"Which was a thoroughly researched and carefully selected gift," The manager pointed out, smiling with a slight amount of nervousness and wishing she would just take the gift. Maybe she really didn't like it after all, "Think of the price difference as the value of good research, since I didn't ask around about your preferences."

Damn him! Damn that stupid glasses wearing manager and his stupid nervous smile and his stupid persistence! Why couldn't he just take the stupid bracelet back already! Because repeatedly turning him down was so much harder than it should be and, "Mo! Fine! But that difference is the cost of good research stuff is a load of bull! You're just too damn stubborn, though, so I guess I have to accept just to get rid of you!"

With a much brighter smile Yashiro gave a sigh of relief, "I'm glad to see you come around. The bracelet does suit you, but I guess I should leave, if that's what it takes to get you to keep it."

Actually, having the man around wasn't that bad, but she wasn't about to admit that. Especially after having said she was accepting the gift to get rid of him. Nope, he had to go, now! She closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, shooing him toward the door, "Mo! That's what I said, so get lost! But you're taking me to lunch the next time we're both available, so I guess I have to find time to go to your office tomorrow so we can compare schedules!"

Behind his glasses, Yashiro's eyes sparkled as he observed the hard edged girl a moment longer, "I look forward to it, Kotonami-san."

Opening her eyes to glance his way, Kanae scowled slightly as she realized he was still standing where he had been, "Good! So go, Glasses-kun! Before I change my mind and shove the bracelet down your throat!"

"I'm going! I should check on Ren and Kyoko-chan anyhow…" He gave one of his more fangirlish grins as he slipped out of the room and toward his office, wondering if his charge's White Day had been as successful as his own.


	9. White Day Interlude

**A/N:** Okay, because I know that most of you are probably all pouty because the last chapter didn't have any White Day action between Ren and Kyoko, I'm going to, as promised, give you a chapter centered on their experience of the day! Just a short bit of reasoning behind the chapter title: I called the last one White Day Challenge for obvious reasons. This one is White Day Interlude because it continues telling about White Day, but doesn't follow our usually Yashiro/Kanae centered chapter structure. So, it's an interlude from the normal. Tada! I think I used the word right anyway, hah! Oh, and anyone who finds the reference to an American cartoon, and can name said cartoon, gets digital cookies! The chapter ends a bit abruptly and awkwardly...gomen, but it was already double my average length...I'll make it up to you with future fluff!

**Disclaimer:** It should stand to reason that I do not own Skip Beat. But just incase you're confused...I don't. Lol.

* * *

**Chapter 9: White Day Interlude**

* * *

When Kanae had arrived at LME on the morning of White Day, Kyoko was already dressed and in the LoveMe section's room, bouncing her leg nervously as she watched the door. LoveMe Number One jumped in surprise upon her best friend's entry before letting out a relieved and exultant cry and rushing forward in her usual attempt to glomp the older girl, "Moko-saaaan!"

With a raised brow, curious about Kyoko's odd behavior and nervousness, Kanae gave her usual exasperated sigh and side stepped the tackle attempt as she snapped out a response, "Mo! Who else would it be? What's got you so on edge anyway?"

Recovering quickly from her near collision with the closed door behind second LoveMe member, the orange haired teen dramatically sank to the floor, a dark aura of despair overwhelming her as her form trembled in anguish, "Today...its...another of _those_ days...I thought it was over for the year, but I forgot about today!"

This was met with an even more confused expression as the girl's friend tried to piece together her, as expected, nonsensical ramblings. It was something to do with today that filled her with dread...which meant it probably involved romance of some sort, or just Fuwa Sho in general. Now, Kanae wasn't usually the one to be slow on the uptake, but between work and her current confusion involving a certain manager, she'd not really been focused on the date.

After a while of not hearing a response, Kyoko glanced up through her bangs to look at her bestie, shocked to see the normally with it teen having such difficulty figuring out what was going on, "It's _White Day_!"

"Oh…" The beautiful talento blinked as she realized why this day might concern her younger comrade. In an effort to assuage her fellow LoveMe member's worries she offered, "Well, the only guys you get gifts from on White Day are those you gave something to on Valentine's Day, right? So you shouldn't have anyone to worry about, right? If you do get anything it'll only be from-"

"NO!" Kyoko gasped in shocked horror as her friend stated the traditions of the day, "That's the problem! Beagle made me give him chocolate on Vain Day! And Sho...agh! What if he tries to...tries to…"

It was astounding to watch the original member of the LoveMe section's face cycle through the spectrum of reds. Really, Kanae had no clue faces could take on so many hues, but she did feel bad for Kyoko. There were at least two very legitimate people to worry about in her stalker and Fuwa Sho. Both had taken advantage of the naive teen over Valentine's, and either might try to give her some sort of vile excuse for a gift on this day. It would be hard to do, since she would be staying in LME pretty much the entire day, but Kanae wouldn't put it past the musicians to manage to sneak in somehow in an attempt to find their obsession, "Mo! We'll just stay in here, and they won't find you then!"

Even as the elder member folded her arms resolutely over her chest, she could see her friend's doubt surfacing. As she watched the orange haired girl's features shift with her thoughts, Kanae was losing patience. Just when she was on the verge of snapping at the young starlet once more, Kyoko finally voiced her concern, "But it one of those...r-r-romantic things...what if the President gives us something to do!"

Number One's expression moved fluidly from concern, to disgust and finally horror as she spoke. And her friend had to admit it was a possibility. White Day was usually secondary to Valentine's, but it wasn't impossible for President Lory to take advantage of such an occasion. Still, trying to keep Kyoko from going in to a full on panic, Kanae flipped her long hair smoothly over her shoulder with a cool reply, "He won't...not knowing what happened in February. He wouldn't put you at risk like that…"

Golden eyes continued to show doubts, shifting nervously as the younger teen bit her bottom lip. The President was considerate of his talents, and would try his best to keep them safe, true. He also happened to be obsessed with the emotion called love, however, and Kyoko wasn't sure which would win in a battle of his conscience. In the end, her desire to believe her friend triumphed over her doubts, and she gave a slow nod, "You're right, he wouldn't put me in harm's way...he even made sure there wouldn't be Dark Moon shooting today...that's probably why!"

Suddenly a knock sounded on the door, causing the orange haired teen to give a nearly inaudible squeak before climbing to her feet and cautiously approaching the entrance to the room and speaking with mild suspicion, "Who is it?"

She heard a young voice, but it was nearly drowned out by the familiar kindness of Ren's manager greeting her. Still, just to be sure there was no trickery going on, the rising star opened the door only a crack, just enough to peek out and confirm Yashiro's identity. She wouldn't be surprised to find out Beagle could steal people's voices like he had her grudge spirit! It was really the manager though, and the boy at his side was familiar as well...oh! The child was Hiou, a costar on Moko's drama.

Satisfied with their identities, Kyoko pushed the door open all the way, standing in it's frame to converse with her friend, whom she assumed had come by to talk with her regarding something about Ren or Dark Moon. As was expected in a polite exchange, Yashiro asked after her well being, "Worried about stalkers and singers?"

"Yes...I will not let them find me!" She stated firmly, though she couldn't suppress a shudder. As she was about to ask about the manager's day in return, she was pushed rudely aside by the young actor, causing her to blink and stumble as she was caught off guard. Thankfully Yashiro was there to help keep her from falling entirely.

"Umm…" The manager murmured, removing his hands from her shoulders and looking past her with what seemed like mild nervousness. She was surprised when he suddenly continued, "I hope you don't have any trouble, Kyoko-chan, but...I actually came to see Kotonami-san, I'm afraid."

Hearing her friend behind her speaking with her usual gruffness upon being given a gift from Hiou, Kyoko smiled and nodded, stepping aside to let Yashiro through. She knew that the manager was trying to become friends with Moko, which she thought was great, and so she wouldn't interfere. As soon as the bespectacled man moved into the room though, her grudges sprang to attention, whispering about the delightful impending disaster that had drawn them forth and hovering around the other three occupants of the room. Whatever was about to happen, the starlet didn't want to be there for it, so she began to slowly move out of the room, trying to piece together an excuse as she did, "Ah...gomen...I should...uh...go and do...something."

With her lame finish, all eyes shifted to her, causing her to feel an odd amount of discomfort. As an actress, shouldn't she be better at coming up with and giving excuses? Well, apparently improv wasn't her strong suit. Besides, she was only believable if she had a character, and right now she was just Kyoko.

It was Yashiro who came to her rescue eventually as he smiled at her while replying, "Ah, alright Kyoko-chan...oh, if you need Ren, he was in my office when last I saw him!"

Why the manager would mention her mentor, she had no idea. Of course Ren had better things to do with his time than keep her company! Still, she smiled at him and gave a small nod, "I'll keep that in mind, um...bye then!"

With that she quickly swept out of the door, shutting it and leaving the sense of impending doom behind her. She began to wander the halls, unsure of where to go, but certain that she wasn't going to waste her sempai's time. It would be rude of her, after all! She could just imagine him glowering at her and bemoaning the fact that his ungrateful kouhai thought all his time was hers to demand. Then he would stop speaking to her and giving her advice just to make his point that he did indeed have better uses for his time! She wasn't about to do something that would lead to such a horrid outcome! In preemptive despair she froze in her spot and looked upward, not even needing her Ren doll in order to see the face that she had envisioned so clearly during this waking nightmare, "Tsuruga-san! I don't want to waste your time! Please, don't stop talking to me, I promise, I'll leave you alone unless it's an absolute emergency!"

It wasn't until several passers by had stopped to stare in her direction that she realized she had been pleading her case aloud. Her features flushed in embarrassment as she gave a sheepish wave to her undesired audience, "Um...carry on, I didn't mean to disturb you...just...uh...working on a character!"

As the crowd resumed their routine with a mix of amused and bewildered murmurs, Kyoko gave a quick look around, and was relieved to find that there was no one too embarrassing there to witness her small breakdown. Giving a soft sigh of gratitude, she resumed her journey down the hall. The fact that it was one of _those_ days was almost forgotten as she made her way to nowhere in particular. Almost, until she happened to pass by the trio from Bridge Rock who were lingering in the hall waiting for their manager.

As she turned a corner and stumble on the group, a smile spread over her features. It was always nice to see friends! Especially when she was not doing anything and had a chance to stop and talk. A small wave was given to greet the musicians turned variety show hosts, during which she failed to notice that the two members standing closest to the wall gave their leader a push towards her.

A small glare was sent from the short man to his friends before he turned a bright smile to the girl who played the chicken on their show, "Hi, Kyoko-chan!"

"Hello, Hikaru-san." She smiled warmly at the man who had stepped forward, not noticing that he seemed to be fidgeting nervously with something behind his back as she turned to greet his bandmates, "Hello, Shinichi-san, Yuusei-san!"

Hikaru took the moment she was distracted by his friends to cast a look over his shoulder at them, during which the gave him subtle thumbs ups in encouragement, "Umm...Kyoko-chan…"

"Yes, Hikaru-san?" The pink clad teen replied warmly, turning her soft smile back to the man nearest to her, her golden gaze catching his.

Giving a grin of his own, and looking a touch more confident than he usually felt around his crush, he moved his hands from behind his back to hold out a small, gift-wrapped box to the teen, "Here! This is for you, happy White Day!"

Kyoko paled at being presented with a gift and a reminder of the date. How could she have gotten so careless and let her guard down! Of course, this was just a present from the guys on Bridge Rock, it didn't really mean anything romantic. At the slightly worried look she detected on Hikaru's features, she put on a smile and accepted the box with a slight bow, "Arigatou. But you guys really didn't have to give me anything!"

The band's leader tried to keep his features from shifting to disappointment upon hearing the thanks directed to all of them. Instead he put on his best smile, not wanting to put too much pressure on her, "Sure we did! You've done a lot for us, we owed you something! In fact, I was thinking it would be a good idea to invite you to lunch or dinner if you're available later…"

Behind him, Shinichi was trying to fight back a smirk and snicker while Yuusei was smiling despite feeling sympathy for their leader. The fact that she thought they were all responsible for the gift must have stung, but the offer for lunch or dinner was a nice recovery! Yuusei figured that even if she attributed that to the whole band as well, he and Shinichi could duck out claiming they had something else to do, or some last minute illness. Though knowing Shinichi, he'd want to tag along and cause some mischief.

Kyoko smiled kindly as she considered the offer, then shook her head. She couldn't risk being out too long on a day like today. A public place was perfect for Beagle or Sho to corner her, "I appreciate the offer, but I really can't. It's nice knowing I have friends that appreciate me so much, though really, I should be thanking you!"

Shinichi winced at the fact that she had used the 'F' word to refer to their group, including Hikaru, who just couldn't catch a break it seemed. Yuusei sighed as another pang of sympathy washed through him. Hikaru, however, just put on his best smile and gave a nod, "Oh...I understand. I guess it is a bit of an awkward day to be offered lunch or something, huh? Well, maybe another time, then?"

"Sure! I'm sure we could all find a time that works to get some food together!" Kyoko smiled as she offered a bow, "But for now, I really should be going. Thank you again for the gift! You're such great friends to think of me!"

With that, the rising star turned on her heel and hightailed it to the elevators. She wasn't paying attention to the boys behind her as Yuusei tried to comfort Hikaru by reminding him that at least she had taken the gift, or as Shinich tried to stifle his snickers while telling the Bridge Rock leader how sorry he was that he had just been 'friend zoned.'

No, with the reminder of White Day and how vulnerable it left her, Kyoko had only one thing on her mind. She had to find a safe haven. Somewhere that Shoutaro and Beagle wouldn't be able to find her even if they somehow managed to get into the building. And the first thought that came to mind was Yashiro's comment that Ren had last been seen in the manager's office. That was a safe place, and if the number one actor in Japan was there, all the more so. She'd just have to apologize profusely for intruding on his time!

By the time the orange haired LoveMe member had reached the elevators, she was a bit winded from the speed at which she had been running. She had forgotten about the fact that the gift wrapped box remained clutched to her chest, all thoughts but her destination and its possible occupant gone from her mind. The only reason she hadn't dropped Hikaru's present was the autopilot mode she was in. There was no mental capacity spared for trivial things like releasing the grip she held on the package.

Gasping for breath, she waited as patiently as possible for the lift to arrive. When at last the ding sounded and the doors whooshed open, she quickly stepped inside and pushed the button for the desired floor. At least in a moving elevator, she was less likely to encounter her foes. After what seemed like way too long, she arrived on the managerial floor, and turned toward Yashiro's office. Kyoko didn't run this time, but she did walk briskly until she reached the room that was marked as his. Her hand reached for the knob, but she stopped upon realizing that even if Yashiro wasn't there, it would be rude to just walk in without knocking if _someone_ was. So, she gave a tap on the door to announce her presence.

* * *

Once Yashiro had gone on his mission, Ren leaned back in the chair he occupied. The actor wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself for the moment. He had no pressing matters to attend to, and while he _would_ like to see Kyoko, he knew she would most likely be in the LoveMe room with Kanae, or doing some sort of work for the President to celebrate the romantic nature of the day. Besides, he had no legitimate excuse to track her down. True, there was the matter of what had happened on Valentine's day, but he didn't want her to feel like he didn't trust her. Besides, if he came across as jealous or possessive, he might scare her off.

So, he sat in the office, staring in boredom at the ceiling as he wondered how his manager was succeeding in his White Day offering to the older LoveMe member. Of course, staring up and pondering could only keep one's interest for so long. Eventually he sighed and looked around in search of something else to hold his attention. Eventually his gaze fell on Yashiro's stupid little shiba inu clock. It really was a ridiculously cute and girly trinket, not something he personally would ever want, and yet he supposed it suited his bespectacled friend.

Chocolate brown eyes shifted back and forth with the movement of the sun driven wagging of the clock's tail. It was certainly one of the most unique dog themed gifts he'd seen his manager receive. It couldn't have been very expensive, maybe 600 yen at most, if it was even worth that much. And then Yashiro had to go and buy something so pricy as a return gift. Just because he could afford it, didn't make it appropriate. Sure, Ren knew what it was like to want to spoil someone you cared about, but he could also appreciate what a shock it would be for Kanae to see what was in the bag. He knew if it had been Kyoko receiving a gift that cost so much more than the one she had given, the girl would have never accepted, at least not willingly, due to feeling an extreme guilt for not having earned the bracelet because the gift she had offered before had been worth much less.

Ren didn't know Kanae well, that was true, but he had a feeling other LoveMe member would be just as likely to reject such an exchange, though probably for different reasons. If he knew anything about the raven haired talento, it was that she tried to distance herself from displaying any sort of caring or vulnerability. He'd seen it often enough in the way she treated Kyoko, acting cold and distant one moment, then fiercely protective and concerned the next. She also seemed very practical in how she managed her affairs in regards to how they affected her career, as demonstrated by her constant worry over her diet. So, though she may use the cost as an excuse, Kanae was more likely to reject Yashiro's gift out of fear of what it symbolized. After all, most girls would naturally associate jewelry with romantic intentions. Even if she didn't think romance actually drove his manager to offer the gift, she would be aware of what wearing the bracelet that had been given to her by a man would look like to outsiders. It would be a PR issue for sure.

When the seasoned actor had tried to explain such concerns to his friend, he'd thought at first Yashiro had understood and wouldn't go through with the White Day scheme. But instead, his manager had asked for advice on talking stubborn women into accepting gifts after initially rejecting them. Ren had been able to convince Kyoko to take Princess Rosa after all, so he must have had some ideas! If only to get the older man to stop asking him questions about such things, the star had run a few ideas past him. The fantasy story angle he'd used on his own love interest wouldn't work on a more reality grounded woman like Kanae, but meeting stubbornness with stubbornness might. And, Yashiro could also suggest that she not tell anyone where the gift came from, thus resolving the notion of gossip spreading. If the talento said she'd bought the jewelry herself, then it shouldn't be a problem.

Still, Yashiro had continued to worry and fret about what kind of reception his gift would receive. It was amusing, if a little pathetic, to watch. If he was going to resolve to the idea of giving a White Day present, then he should have done so with more confidence.

A knock at the door suddenly put a stop to Ren's thoughts, causing him to blink and look away from the clock to quirk a brow at the door. The damn time piece's wagging tail really did have some kind of hypnotic effect, it seemed! More importantly, though, who was at the door? Yashiro wouldn't be knocking, since it _was_ his office. And as far as the actor knew, his manager hadn't scheduled any appointments for this part of the day. After a moments hesitation, the star finally called out curiously, "I'm afraid Yashiro's stepped out a moment...I'm waiting on him to come back, which hopefully won't take too long."

Standing he walked toward the door, figuring that asking a person to leave their name through the closed barrier was rude. Putting on a charming smile he pushed the door open to see who was there, "If you'll just...M-mogami-san? Did you need something?"

Kyoko's cheeks were flushed, though from the looks of it, the coloring was less out of embarrassment than a quick pace through the building. Judging by the expression in her golden gaze, she was slightly nervous about _something_...and Ren didn't have to think very hard to figure out just what that might be. White Day was a day for guys to show their affection for women, particularly the ones that gave them chocolates, though a certain blonde musician didn't seem to mind breaking tradition as the incident on Valentine's had proven. A swift once over showed him that she didn't appear to have been in any sort of physical altercation, her clothes weren't disheveled in anyway, nor was her appearance mussed otherwise. He didn't miss, however, the wrapped box she held to her chest. She hadn't thrown it down and stomped on it, so it must not have been from someone she absolutely detested.

"Tsuruga-san!" The name came out in a soft gasp of relief as he was revealed to be behind the door. Seeing the way he was looking her over, she thought that she really had offended him as she feared she would. She shouldn't have taken away from his precious time! Quickly the girl threw herself into a dogeza before her sempai could stop her, the box still held in one of her hands as she began to spout apologies, "Gomen! I shouldn't have come! I knew I would be encroaching on your valuable time! I didn't mean to take for granted that you would have a moment to spare for me! I know I'm completely worthless, and you have so many better things to do, but I really didn't know what else to do and-"

After trying to get her attention without success several times, Ren finally resorted to crouching down so she would be able to see the stern expression on his face better as he spoke in his most sempai like manner, loud enough to make himself heard above her stream of apologies, but gentle enough to let her know he wasn't actually angry, "Mogami-san!"

She stopped rambling and looked up at him, practically in tears at the thought that he wouldn't want to speak to her anymore. What would she do without the guidance of her sempai after all!

"Take a breath, and calm down…" The veteran actor instructed his kouhai as he placed a reassuring hand on her head, "I'm not angry, I'm worried. You looked panicked, so I thought maybe Fuwa had done something...he didn't, did he?"

Seeing his concerned look, and the frown that creased his features as he spoke Sho's name, Kyoko shook her head slowly, sitting up with her legs tucked neatly beneath her, though she remained on the floor in the doorway, "No...he didn't...but I wouldn't put it past him. Yashiro-san and Hiou-san were in the LoveMe room with Moko-san, and I didn't want to stay there with them anymore...so I left...and I didn't know where else to go to keep Sho and the Beagle from finding me…"

"First of all…" A small smile accompanied his sigh of relief as he learned she hadn't been harmed, "I doubt Fuwa would be capable of getting in without being spotted...Vie Ghoul is a bit more...devious. But I still think you'd be safe with the President watching out for you. Second of all, you never have to worry about imposing on me. If you're worried about anything, your acting or _especially_ your safety, then you are definitely allowed to come to me for help. In fact, I want you to."

Hearing him encouraging her to seek him out at any time that she had a problem was a surprise to her. Certainly he'd get tired of her eventually, and she didn't want to become a burden, "I couldn't...I mean, I don't want to take advantage...and you do have your jobs to worry about...and-"

"Please, take advantage of me." Ren had insisted, before realizing the other implications such a statement held. With a slight blush he turned away and cleared his throat in an attempt to get his mind back on track, and off of the dirty images that had invaded it all of a sudden. In an effort to backtrack to a safety zone before she noticed how his first response could be interpreted, he decided to play a card he never liked using, "I mean, what kind of a sempai would I be if I weren't there for my kouhai when she needed me? As for my jobs, you can always leave a message on my phone if I'm not immediately available...I promise I'll get back to you as soon as possible. If it's advice you need, that can be done over the phone, if you need something more serious, I can make arrangements using my connections, I swear."

With a warm smile that disguised his sorrow at having just re-established that sempai/kouhai connection rather than moved forward to friendship, Ren stood and held out a hand to help Kyoko up as well. He watched her silently as she seemed to consider his words a moment before reaching out her hand to grasp his.

As she was pulled to her feet, she smiled warmly at him, using her free hand to hold the wrapped box she had been carrying when she arrived. A nod was given to show that she accepted his terms, though she wasn't hesitant about adding her own addendum, "Alright, but if I need anything more than advice, I won't bother you when you're on a job. I don't want to inconvenience the connections you have either...besides, I do have others I can go to for help if I have to."

While the veteran actor wished he could always be her hero, he knew that her adjustment to the agreement made sense. She couldn't be completely dependent on him, because someday, he might not be able to come through for her...or worse yet, he might be the one to...no, he couldn't let that thought intrude on his mind. Trying to change the course of his thoughts, he glanced back at the box she carried, arching a brow in curiosity. Doing his best to sound less like he was jealous, and more like he was inquiring out of friendly curiosity, he asked, "If you didn't run into Fuwa or Vie Ghoul...where did that come from?"

"Oh, this is from-" Kyoko had begun to reply in an easy and chipper tone, but she seemed to freeze as a thought occurred to her. She had no real reason to associate with the Bridge Rock boys, at least not as far as Ren knew. Sure, they all worked for the same agency, but they were in different departments. Hikaru and his bandmates were technically musicians, even if they did have a TV show, and she was a talento. There would be no real need for them to interact unless she had been a guest, which she hadn't, or a regular part of the show...which she had under the guise of a chicken...a chicken that had offered Tsuruga Ren some personal advice...a chicken that no one knew was her.

Noting the fact that his love interest had stopped speaking and apparently frozen before actually informing him of whom had given her the gift, he had to force his friendly expression not to shift into a frown. He couldn't keep his smile from slowly growing more gentlemanly though, "I'm sorry, who was that?"

"A...a friend." Kyoko quickly covered, though it was a rather lame response, "Just a friend! Yup, you probably don't even know them! So there's no reason to worry about it, Tsuruga-san! It wasn't anyone who was dangerous, so it's all okay! Shoutaro and Beagle didn't have a thing to do with it!"

Her guilty smile did little to reassure him. But if he was too persistent, she might figure out that he was jealous, which would let her know that he loved her, which would scare her away. Instead, his smile continued shifting toward the gentlemanly end of the spectrum, "I see, well, I'm glad that the gift is safe then. You should open it and see what it is…"

"Uh..I…" The acute level of gentlemanliness in Ren's expression was a little disconcerting. She'd done something to upset him, and she knew what it was. She'd lied to him. He could always tell when she was lying, but she couldn't exactly tell him the truth without giving away an even bigger lie! Shifting under that unnerving smile, she glanced at the wrapped box in her grasp, "I was thinking I'd open it at home…"

"Oh...it's something you need to open in private then?" The gentleman factor kicked up a notch at what that implied, "I see, you can save the intimate gift for home then...but why don't I take you out to dinner after we get done here? If you don't mind putting off finding out what's in the box a little longer, that is. That way you can have a nice dinner out without worrying about sleazy musicians, and at the same time, you can make sure I eat…"

He was really mad now. Her grudges were going crazy as they began to circle him, crying in joy at the sheer amount of pure rage energy flowing off of the actor. She was so distracted by the anger obviously displayed by the gentlemanly smile that she nearly missed the implications of the first part of what he said. When she did register it, her eyes grew wide and she blushed wildly, waving her hands, box and all, in front of her to discourage him from thinking such a thing, "I-intimate? Tsuruga-san, it's not i-intimate! I just...it's...I...r-really, I w-wouldn't get a g-gift like that! Who would want to give me something like that anyway? I...I mean...l-look at me!"

"I'm looking…" Ren said, letting his gaze sweep her over as she tried to convince him he had misunderstood. A bit of Kuon managed to slip through his cleverly crafted stage persona as he heard her defend and belittle herself at the same time, and he couldn't help letting slip, "I'm looking…but I don't see what you're talking about…"

This just made his kouhai freeze, hands still extended in front of her as she blushed even deeper at what he was pretty much flat out stating. But she must have misunderstood, because there was no way he could be telling her that he could see a boy giving her something intimate as a gift! Not when she was so plain and boring! A sheepish laugh escaped her before she frowned at him in a scolding manner, "Tsuruga-san! You shouldn't say things like that just to get back at people! Someone might take you seriously!"

Having not had time to completely quell the Kuon side of his personality, the veteran actor folded his arms over his chest, his gentlemanly smile turning into something almost like a smirk as he retorted, "Who said I was getting back at you?"

The orange haired girl quickly pulled her hands back, hugging the gift box against herself as though for protection as she turned her head to the side in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. There was no way he wouldn't hear the pounding of her heart, she was sure of it! What the heck was he trying to do anyway? Trying to keep from hyperventilating in shock and nervousness, the talento gulped before repeating, "Stop it! What if someone didn't realize you were trying to punish me with your jokes! I'll go to dinner with you, but you have to stop saying such ridiculous things…"

Sensing that he had let Kuon go way too far, Ren managed to reign him in and put on his best smile, trying his hardest to keep any hint of gentlemanliness from creeping into the expression. It was aggravating that even with Kuon's bluntness, Kyoko still didn't believe that she was worth caring for. She thought he was teasing, punishing her even! It made his heart ache as he wondered what he would have to do to actually get through to her, though at the same time he was relieved that her blockades to noticing his genuine attraction to her kept her from running away from him. With a soft sigh he gave her a gentle look, "My apologies, Mogami-san. I didn't mean to make you feel as though I was punishing you...perhaps I spoke out of turn, and I had no right to do so. I am glad you agreed to accompany me to dinner, however. If nothing else, it will give me a chance to make up for this incident."

Kyoko wasn't entirely sure what to make of his words. Yes, he'd apologize (which was mortifying in itself, the thought of her sempai daring to apologize) but he had never actually taken back what he'd said as part of that apology. In fact...had it seemed more as though he was trying to reinforce the idea with his obscure wording? No, impossible. He was her sempai, nothing more. The man she aspired to be like, her role model. Just a beloved sempai. Pushing the thoughts that he might have actually been serious from her mind she offered a reassuring smile, "No, Tsuruga-san, you don't have to apologize! I should be apologizing for speaking so harshly to you when you were only trying to teach me as usual!"

With a brow raised in curiosity, Ren had to force himself not to ask for clarification on what he was supposed to have been teaching her during their earlier exchange. It was better to leave it alone, after all. Questioning it would start the awkwardness all over, and bring her nearer to realization of the truth, and then she would run away from him. The star gave a warm and genuine smile of his own, "Now that we've both apologized, I think the matter is settled, don't you agree? Why don't we just look forward to a nice dinner together later this evening?"

"Of course, Tsuruga-san!" The teen's voice was much brighter now that they had dropped the earlier discussion. That conversation had been very confusing, and her brain was tired of trying to figure out what was actually going on. With the return of her sempai's warm and genuine smile, her grudges beat a hasty retreat, lest they be fried by it's brightness, "Are you sure you want to go out though? I mean, we could go to your apartment, and I could cook for you! Restaurants can be nice, but a home cooked meal is better, and usually healthier too. And with the way you tend to eat, Tsuruga-san, you could use a good home cooked meal from time to time!"

A struggle not to laugh was hidden behing a faux cough and covered by his hand as Ren listened to his crush lecturing him on his eating habits. Of course, she had no way of knowing that her cooking was his favorite thing to eat, period. He couldn't deny her the chance to prepare dinner for him, as much as he knew he probably should, "If you don't mind cooking, then that's fine. I'm paying for groceries, of course...I don't have much at the house right now..."

"As usual..." Kyoko replied with a smirk to his final statement. It was the same every time she would go to his house to cook, he never had any food there, at least not enough for an actual decent meal, "And I don't mind you paying this once...but you need to let me pay the next time, Tsuruga-san! It isn't fair that you always pay for the groceries!"

"Ah, but it isn't fair that you always have to cook, Mogami-san, so in the end, we're even." Her sempai smiled warmly at her as she pouted at his logic. Seeing as he really wasn't a very good cook at all, she was the one who always prepared the meal. And they were eating at his house, so he would provide the food.

"But it doesn't cost me anything to cook! And I really don't mind doing it!" She attempted to counter his argument with her own, and was simply met with a shake of his head.

"Cooking costs your time, doesn't it? So, I'll donate the supplies, and you can donate your time." He wasn't going to let her talk him out of paying for groceries, she never won this argument anyway.

"But-" Kyoko attempted to defend her stance once more, only to be interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room. She and Ren whipped their heads to look at who had come in, finding Yashiro, of course, with a very happy expression on his face, which only grew more happy as he saw his favorite couple standing in his office.

"Hello again, Kyoko-chan! I'm glad to see Ren was still here when you arrived!" The manager was grinning like that cat that ate the canary. Given the smile on Ren's features when he had come in, he figured this had been a doubly successful White Day! There was a gift in the LoveMe member's hand, he noticed, his grin never fading even as he cast a questioning glance at his charge, who had made it quite clear he had no intentions of giving the orange haired starlet a present. He was met with a look that plainly conveyed an answer would be given when the girl had departed, and that the actor expected some answers as well.

"Oh! Yashiro-san! I'm sorry for leaving the LoveMe room so quickly, I just...um..." She wasn't sure how to explain the tense atmosphere that had driven her away. Heck, she wasn't even certain which of the three it had originated from! So, she changed tactics and offered a polite bow of gratitude, "But thank you for letting me know where Tsuruga-san was! This is actually a much better place to keep from being found by...idiots."

Before Yashiro could actually respond, the seasoned actor spoke for him, "Yes, the LoveMe room does seem a likely place to find a LoveMe member in retrospect...Tsuruga Ren's manager's office is probably safer...however I think you might want to go back and make sure Kotonami-san knows you're alright, since you did leave in such a rush..."

Yashiro lofted a brow at the hurry Ren seemed to be displaying to get rid of Kyoko. It was strange, he thought, looking between the two talents, wondering if maybe the day hadn't gone as well as he thought it had for them.

"Oh! You're right, Tsuruga-san! I didn't give a very good reason for leaving either...Moko-san is probably really worried, I should go apologize..." Kyoko fretted as she turned and hurried passed the manager to the room's exit, pausing to turn around and offer one more bow, "Arigatou! To both of you!"

"Oh! Mogami-san," The younger man spoke up before his crush could leave, causing her to straighten and look at him, "I'll stop at the LoveMe room for you when we're ready to leave. If you're so worried about the...idiots as you call them...then it's better that way. Besides, you are cooking dinner for me, correct?"

"Of course!" The girl agreed with a grin and another quick bow before turning and hurrying out of the room so she could go apologize to her best friend.

"Dinner, hmm?" Yashiro smirked at Ren, crossing the office to take his normal seat behind his desk, "She's cooking for you on White Day...aren't the men supposed to be the ones doing the gift giving today?"

"My gift to her is to not give her food poisoning with any cooking I might attempt," The actor replied smoothly, shrugging as he resumed his earlier station in one of the seats in front of the desk, "And speaking of gift giving...you seem to be short one lavender gift bag, and plus one very satisfied smile..."

"Ah...well..." The manager suddenly blushed deeply as the topic was brought around to his own White Day experience. It was rather annoying how good his friend was at turning things on him, "It was...a rather successful day, yes."

"I see..." Ren offered a somewhat playful smirk, "Now that I think about it...Mogami-san had mentioned there was another person who wanted to visit Kotonami-san. Hiou-san...he's her costar in her drama, isn't he?"

This comment was met with a blink of surprise followed by a pause before an explanation was finally crafted, "Yes...he had some chocolates for her...she'd given him some on Valentine's, apparently..."

"A little competition for her heart?" Ren shook his head in faux despair before turning the words his manager often used against him back in retaliation, "You should tell her how you feel before someone else does and you lose your chance..."

"He's a boy, she said so herself!" Yashiro replied grumpily, propping an elbow on his desk and supporting his chin in the hand attached, "Besides, he told her before leaving...basically."

This definitely earned a curious look from his charge, silently urging him to elaborate. With a sigh, the older man tried to do so as succinctly as possible, "After I gave her the bracelet, she was very stubborn about trying to give it back, as expected. One of her arguments was that it would lead people to the wrong impression about our relationship, again, as we thought...and with Hiou-chan being so annoying and smug, I sort of...pulled him into the conversation..."

A fake coughing fit failed to cover the stifled laughter of his friend at the idea of his manager referring to a seasoned actor, even a child star, as –chan. At least when said actor was male. After an irked look Yashiro for his interruption, Ren gestured that he should continue on.

"_Anyway_..." The older man proceeded, trying to make sure he picked up in the proper place, "I pretty much sacrificed his pride to try and make her accept my gift. It wasn't a very kind thing to do...but I wasn't exactly...rational? Would that be the word to use? Well, either way, I asked Kotonami-san if Hiou-chan's gift didn't have the same risks attached."

"And she said?" Ren urged as his manager hesitated to conclude the story. It was hard to think of the bespectacled man using such an underhanded tactic, but love does make people do strange things. Hell, just a short while ago he was practically telling Kyoko he wanted to give her something intimate. The actor fought back the blush that threatened to accompany the memory as Yashiro sighed again.

"She said it was different because I was an older man, while Hiou-chan was a boy. Of course, he didn't like that at all..." It was clear from the expression on the manager's face that he bore mixed feelings over the occurrence, part happiness because whatever the ultimate outcome had been was apparently in his favor, part regret at having crushed a young boy's romantic aspirations so cruelly, "Before he left though, he told her quite boldly that he would grow up someday to be the kind of man she wanted..."

At this, there was no hiding the soft build up of Ren's laughter. His friend cast him a curious look. After all, he had just confessed to destroying a child actor's relationship with Kotonami Kanae...well, maybe not entirely destroying, but certainly making it awkward and difficult. In truth, whatever the outcome was, he felt guilty about that part. The actor and model tried to reign in his amusement, gasping out between continued fits of snickering, "G-gomen...gomen...I...i-it's just...th-that boy! He...hah! He managed to...to do what...we've been...s-struggling with...so easily!"

Well, looking at it that way, it was rather amusing, Yashiro had to admit. He gave a single puff of laughter as a smile spread across his face, "I guess so...if only we had the courage of the young..."

* * *

Kyoko wasn't nearly as short of breath when she returned to the room where she had left Kanae, she'd hurried to get there, true, but despite he desire to avoid potential...idiots...and to apologize to her friend, somehow the pace hadn't seemed as vigorous. After taking a few moments to draw a couple deep breaths and regain what wind she had lost, Number One pulled open the door and swept inside before shutting it behind her, already preparing to pounce her best friend, "Moko-sa-"

The starlet froze mid-pounce attempt as she saw Kanae. The older teen seemed completely out of touch with the room around her, focused on her wrist, which she traced the back of back and forth repeatedly. Placed in front where she sat, a box of gourmet chocolates rested on the table, but it didn't look like she even noticed them anymore. Rather than the usual cool and collected expression that Kyoko was used to seeing on her best friend, there was a thoughtful and distant look, almost as though she wasn't really focused on her wrist at all, but some point beyond it. Something about this just didn't seem right, not in the slightest! Whatever the doom foretold by her grudges had been, it had transpired and gravely affected her fellow LoveMe member!

Carefully, not wanting to frighten the clearly unaware girl, Kyoko moved closer to get a better hold on the situation. As she looked on, she thought she caught a glimmer or gleam on the path being traced along Kanae's wrist. Blinking in curiosity, the orange haired teen leaned in for a closer examination, she wasn't close enough yet to be noticed by her friend, but that didn't mean she couldn't see what was glinting on her arm. With a gasp, the Dark Moon actress completely forgot about stealth and cried out in surprise, "Moko-san! Where did that come from!"

Kanae jumped about a foot in the air as she was pulled out of her day dream, landing on her feet and whirling to face the only one who called her that name. It was easy to put together what the shouting had been about, even if she hadn't been paying enough attention to really register the words at first, given the shaky finger directed at the sapphire studded silver that encircled her wrist. Her gaze darted to the bracelet, then back to Kyoko, then repeated the course once more before she finally responded, "Mo! No where! I...I bought it myself!"

"You did not!" Kyoko shook her head, not believing a word of it as she swept in closer and grabbed her friend's hand before the older girl could pull away, yanking her arm up so she could properly investigate the elegant piece of jewelry, "You definitely did not! No offence, Moko-san, but even as skilled as you are, we're _still_ just starting out! This...would you even be able to afford it?"

Blushing fiercely at the ineffectiveness of her lie against her usually naïve friend, the raven haired beauty jerked her hand free of Kyoko's grip, "Mo! If I said I bought it, then I did!"

"The chocolate is from Hiou-san, right?" Kyoko gestured to the package of imported sweets on the table as she tried to piece things together. Something was weird...something was very off. Kanae didn't get distant and dazed and sappy, nothing made her that way, at least not in such a serious state that she wouldn't even notice she was being walked in on!

"Yes," The older girl replied with a roll of her eyes, annoyed with the interrogation, hoping that her friend would soon be satisfied with the fact she knew where everything came from and leave her alone.

"I thought so...the box is the shape his gift was..." Kyoko nodded, proud of herself for at least getting that clue right, "So, who gave you the bracelet then? I mean, it's obviously a gift, you were all dreamy a minute ago, and Moko-san doesn't ever get that way! So it must be someone important to you...like a long lost friend, or family member...or...or someone you...l-l-love..."

Good grief! How could the girl be so clueless about her own romantic affairs and pick up so keenly when others were...were...wait, wait, wait! Kanae was _not_ having romantic issues! There was nothing romantic at all between her and Yashiro! The bracelet had been a way too extravagant thank you gift that she had only excepted to get him to leave her alone...even if she had told him she was going to make lunch plans with him for the earliest convenient time during a meeting scheduled for the next day. At least he'd stopped bugging her about the damn bracelet! It was painful to listen to Kyoko speculating about her love life, though. Seriously, the orange haired LoveMe girl couldn't even say the word love without cringing and looking like she wanted to run for the hills.

To make the point that her suspicions were ridiculous clear to Kyoko, Kanae put her hands firmly on her hips and narrowed her eyes at her friend, making her seriousness on the matter clear, "Mo! It's nothing like that! I wasn't _dreamy_ at all! I was thinking about how stupidly expensive this damn bauble was! Especially as a stupid thank you for a stupid cheap apology present!"

"Yashiro-san!" Number One gasped in shock as she covered her mouth. Instantly the elder of the two regretted giving too much away with that last sentence. How could she have forgotten she'd told Kyoko the real purpose of the original present? But the pieces were clicking now as the Dark Moon actress thought back on things. Yashiro had been the other one present when that sense of foreboding had drawn out her grudges, he'd come to see Kanae, not her, and if she thought back hard enough she even recalled a gift bag...pink...maybe more purplish in color. It would hide the shape of the bracelet enough, "But if it cost so much more than the apology gift, why did you accept it?"

"Mo! Idiot! He wouldn't stop bothering me until I did!" The teen flipped a stray wisp of raven hair over her shoulder in agitation, "He's so annoying! Like I even _wanted _a gift back!"

"He..." Kyoko crinkled her face as she considered her bestie's words. Yashiro had practically forced Kanae to take it, according to the way the older girl spoke. That definitely didn't sound like the man she knew him to be. Where would he get such ideas, and why would he be so desperate? Glancing back at the sapphires that decorated her friend's wrist, a possible reason presented itself to the younger girl's mind, and try as she might to shove it away, it just wouldn't make room for other notions. She might as well voice it, she decided, and see if doing so cleared the way for fresh thoughts, "You don't think...it's probably a silly thing to say, gomen, Moko-san, but...jewelry _is_ considered a gift between...well...ummm...s-s-sweet...hearts..."

It was a definite struggle to get out that last word, which had only been used because the word lovers would have totally fried her circuits had she even attempted to utter it. The effort to voice her thought wasn't aided by the steadily darkening look in her friend's eyes as she worked her way towards her theories conclusion. By now, the older LoveMe member was nearly glaring at her, silently daring her to say such a thing again. Instantly Kyoko was in a dogeza before her friend, pleading with her, "Ah! G-gomen, Moko-san! Please forgive me! I'm such an idiot for ever thinking such a thing! There's no way Yashiro-san would feel that way for you! I mean, that's not to say that there's any reason a man _shouldn't_ feel that way for you...but of course if you had any reason to believe he had, you would have turned him away immediately, and sent his gift with him! It was obviously a token of gratitude and friendship! Please don't hate me!"

"I don't hate you..." Kanae mumbled as she rolled her eyes in exasperation once more, wishing the stupid girl would just get up off the floor already, she was only embarrassing herself. And though the older teen would never admit it even to herself, she had the feeling Kyoko's stupid theory might actually be more accurate than either of them wanted to believe. No matter how she looked at it, that was how it added up. Yashiro's flirtatious words in his response to her note, the fact that he'd gotten her a thank you gift _and_ chosen to give it to her on White Day, the glaring contest between him and Hiou (no, she hadn't actually managed to entirely miss that,) the extravagant cost of the gift, the fact it was jewelry of course, his insistence that she accept it, not to mention that cruel trick he pulled making her admit that she viewed Hiou as only a child while he was in the room (she didn't appreciate that one at all) it all equaled one thing...Glasses-kun was, for whatever reason, in love with her. The thought made her stomach flip-flop, and she didn't know if that was good or bad. So, she decided to do the only thing she could. In a world where two plus two equaling four is absolutely unacceptable, you make it equal fish. Just close your eyes, focus as hard as you can, and convince yourself it's the truth. Two plus two is fish, "I don't hate you, but Glasses-kun doesn't love me. He's just an idiot who spends way too much on friendly gestures!"

* * *

And so, for the rest of the day, topics of romance were mostly avoided. Kyoko did not want to draw questions about the gift she had gotten from the Bridge Rock boys, Kanae didn't want to face the obvious truth about her bracelet, Yashiro didn't want to face the guilt that was mixed with his small victory, and Ren didn't want to face his manager's teasing over the dinner Kyoko was going to cook for him. So, it was mutually beneficial to all of them, if they just forgot the whole subject until it absolutely needed to be addressed again.

The need to do that was kept at bay until Ren was getting ready to leave for the evening. As he had promised, his first stop was to the LoveMe room so that he could escort his crush to his car, then they would go to the market for supplies before heading to his apartment so she could cook. He knocked firmly, but not harshly, at the closed door, which was opened by Kanae who was already grumbling at the person she had been expecting to find.

"Baka, Glasses-kun, I agreed to keep your damn gift if you left me alone, now go away until tomo-" Upon realizing that it definitely was not the man she was actually expecting to find, the raven haired girl went practically crimson, narrowing her eyes at the man who now carried two strikes in her eyes. Of course there was the fact that he had been trying to steal away her best friend, with his managers help. And that lead to strike two, because in that very process, he'd managed to somehow get her tangled up in...fish! Because two plus two was fish...yup, definitely fish. Whipping around to head back into the room she called out in a bored tone, "Mo! Kyoko-chan, it's for you!"

Having known that Ren was going to be coming for her, and having finished any LoveMe assignments, which thankfully had nothing to do with it being one of _those_ days, early, Kyoko had changed about a half hour ago. Of course, this left her with plenty of time to do nothing but sit around. She filled the void at first by opening the gift Hikaru had handed her. It was a cute chocolate, a single piece, but larger than average and molded into the shape of a ballerina. It wasn't quite a fairy, but she knew they had tried, so she gave them points for effort. They really were good friends! The chocolate was stored in her locker for use in case of later chocolate emergencies, hey stress happens and chocolate must be available, before Kyoko returned to her place on the couch. The whole process of opening, appreciating, and storing the gift had taken only a couple minutes, and now she literally had nothing else to do. Kanae hadn't talked to her much since she'd made the mistake of mentioning the forbidden 'L' word...hopefully that would blow over soon, Kyoko really didn't want to lose her best friend over such a stupid lapse in judgment. As boredom set in, the first LoveMe member stretched out on the sofa, staring at the ceiling for lack of a more constructive past time, and eventually fell asleep.

It was Kanae calling her name that caused her to abruptly sit up, orange hair sticking to the corner of her mouth and slightly rumpled at the back of her head, and she gave a surprised murmur of, "I'm up!"

"I'm glad, Mogami-san," That wasn't Kanae's voice that replied, however, which drew a bleary look from the talento, who upon realizing just who it actually was leaped off the couch and stood, "I'm sorry to intrude on your nap, but I was looking forward to that home cooked meal..."

"No! I mean, of course!" Kyoko responded emphatically as she began rushing about the room to gather up the last of what she had left lying around. Her purse was on the table, her coat draped over the back of a chair. Realizing that she couldn't hold the purse and put on the coat at the same time, she set the bag on the couch and tugged her coat on over her red sweater with a swooped neckline, which she had paired with a pair of dark washed jeans that day and fished with a pair of mid-calf black boots. The tan color of the coat clashed a bit with the boots, but she didn't think it was that big a deal. Once she was weather ready, she snatched her purse from the couch and hurried forward to meet Ren, who was waiting with a patient and bemused smile near the door, "Sorry to make you wait, Tsuruga-san! I accidentally dozed off!"

"Then you must have been tired," The tall actor reasoned, "Maybe we should reschedule dinner...I can drive you home instead. It must have been a stressful day for you with the risk of tragic encounters..."

"It would be horribly rude of me to reschedule now..." Kyoko started, and sensing a 'but' the senior actor gestured that she should continue, "But I really am rather tired...and on a day like _this_...I would like to just go home. Not that I don't want to spend time with you, Tsuruga-san! Please don't misunderstand! I just think sleep would be better at this point. But...I will make it up to you, I promise!"

"I understand, of course." Ren smiled politely, giving a small nod to show he agreed with her assessment of the situation, "Then I'll drive you home."

Together he and Kyoko walked out to where he had parked, finding Yashiro waiting for them. Either way, they would have been delayed by having to drop the manager off. Ren smirked slightly as he noticed his friend shifting uneasily, the actor dropping a sideways glance to the teen at his side, confirming that she was giving an appraising look at the bespectacled man. This could be an interesting drive.


End file.
